Is Anorexia Nervosa a Mental Disorder?

In this article “Fighting Anorexia: No One to Blame” it discusses the struggles and challenges children face as young as 8 years old and teens from 13 to 18 years of age when dealing with the eating disorder “Anorexia Nervosa.” Which is defined in our text as an “eating disorder characterized by self-starvation” (Bee, pg. 384). The staff of “Newsweek” also discuss who or what is to blame for anorexia nervosa in the past parents have been blamed when their children have shown signs in regards to this disorder. Research has shifted from blaming the parents to the possibility anorexia might have some links to mental disorder, genetics or even environmental factors which can influence the disorder. Lastly, the article discusses various

After reading, “Anorexia Nervosa: Friend or Foe?” by Serpell et. al., in 1998, “Bulimia Nervosa: Friend or Foe? The Pros and Cons of Bulimia Nervosa,” by Serpell and Treasure in 2001, and viewing the documentary, Dying to be Thin, from PBS in 2000, I found several significant points within this research. Specifically, AN is the deadliest of all psychiatric disorders and the most difficult psychiatric illness to treat. As mentioned in the video Dying to be Thin, while detection as well as treatment are critical for individuals suffering from AN and other eating disorders, the potential related health risks may be serious as well as irreversible, including osteoporosis, cardiac arrest, and amenorrhea leading to infertility as well significant

People often turn eating disorders into an impersonal set of medical details because they forget to consider the personal aspects. In her book Hollow: An Unpolished Tale, Jena Marrow describes anorexia with, “I am forever engaged in a silent battle in my head over whether or not to lift the fork to my mouth, and when I talk myself into doing so, I taste only shame” (17). Shame prevents many people from seeking treatment for anorexia nervosa, an eating disorder in which the person weighs significantly less than what doctors consider healthy, experiences body dysmorphia, and has an extreme fear of gaining weight (Mayo Clinic Staff). People downplay anorexia nervosa as a rich girl disorder or a cry for attention, but less than 28 percent of people

For this interview I looked at anorexia in one of my close friends. I chose to interview a friend of mine who we will call Jessica for the sake of this paper. Jessica is a 21 year old American woman who has been diagnosed with Anorexia since she was 16. Jessica is 5’6 and when she was diagnosed with her disorder she was 5’4 and weighed 90 pounds which for her height at the time was considered to be severely underweight. Jessica still struggles with many symptoms of this disorder; however, she has been able to gain weight and is considered to be on the lower end of the average scale. In addition, Jessica faces many of the symptoms that those with anorexia experience as described by Comer in Abnormal Psychology. The main symptom that Jessica deals with as a result of anorexia is a form of anorexia called restricting-type anorexia nervosa where Jessica restricts her food

Anorexia nervosa is a deadly eating disorder that has been an increasing problem over recent years for this generation, especially in adolescent females. Since almost everyone can access the media whenever and wherever they want, our society has been constantly shown images that have shaped our standards of beauty in which we then pass down to adolescents. In a society where mass media is so easily accessible, it 's not hard to see why images of extremely thin models can have a major impact on the minds of adolescent females who want to be accepted. Though the causes may be hard to change or impact, there are many possible treatments for those with anorexia nervosa ranging from psychological, biological, social and many other different treatments that target key components of this disorder in order to help those in need.

Statistics are often a bit of a hazard, but when it comes to those concerning an illness characterised by discretion, dishonour and deception, even that is an understatement. Statistics show a 60% rise in the number of young girls admitted to hospital with anorexia in England and disturbingly still rising. The mythology encompassing anorexia is a self-inflicted condition brought on by narcissism. Narcissism is a misinterpretation of what is, in reality, a life threatening disease whose cause remains obscure, whose treatment is inaccurate and whose classification is random. Anorexia kills more of its sufferers than any other illness. And it is vital we feed our society with greater knowledge of this critical disease to ensure that it doesn’t eat away the security and sustainability of our future generations.

Many people, mainly woman experience the feeling of being fat. This feeling is a key factor for diagnosing anorexia nervosa (AN). AN is characterized by severe and serious disorders of self-perception of their body and the determined pursuit of thinness. This disorder was first discovered by Morton in 1689. AN was believed to be a form of hysteria but then was thought to be a hereditary abnormality of the central neurological system that only appeared in young females. The term Anorexia Nervosa was established in 1883 by Huchard, and Sigmund Freud hypothesized that anorexia was associated with melancholy and most often it appeared in sexual immature females. AN is appearing more in the recent decades than any decades in the past. This disorder is found amongst both genders but is more prevalent in females. It occurs 10-20 times more in females than it does in males and is mainly in developed countries. (Wozniak, Rekleiti,& Roupa, 2012). Anorexia Nervosa is found to have significant life impairment and a negative effect of Quality of Life. Eating disorders have a higher mortality rate than any other mental illness. The low recovery rate and high mortality rate is worse in restricting Anorexia Nervosa than any other eating disorder. (Sy, 2013.) According to the DSM-IV-TR handbook some criterions for this disorder are as follows, criterion A (“the refusal to maintain a body weight

Of all those fighting anorexia it is reported that 10-25% will die as a result of their eating disorder. Eating disorders are the most fatal psychological illnesses. It truly is a deadly diet.

Many people are not sure what it means to have or be around someone who has Anorexia Nervosa. Anorexia is one of the leading causes of death in young women, and a crippling mental illness that can potentially ruin a person’s life (Kranz and Maloney 8). About one in 250 girls has suffered with some type of eating disorder at a point in their lives. This disease is taking over the lives of many young women, and we need to help stop it.

“I am forever engaged in a silent battle in my head over whether or not to lift the fork to my mouth, and when I talk myself into doing so, I taste only shame. I have an eating disorder” (Morrow, 2010). For 10 million females and 1 million males in the United States alone, eating disorders, such as Anorexia Nervosa, are a daily struggle. The fifth edition of The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, also referred to as the DSM V (American Psychiatric Association, 2013), defines Anorexia Nervosa as an eating disorder in which an individual persistently restrict his or her daily caloric intake leading to significantly low body weight. An intense fear or gaining weight or becoming fat is present, and individuals use negative

Anorexia nervosa is a life threatening eating disorder. This eating disorder is when someone decides that they need to starve themselves. They do this because they are hoping to lose a lot of weight quickly. Anorexia nervosa is a medical condition that can become very serious. This eating disorder takes place in the mind of the individual that has it. This means that the person thinks that they are overweight and that they need to lose weight. This happens even though the person might be at a healthy weight. When having this eating disorder, the person has a fear of gaining any weight and they believe that their life would be better if they were thinner. One fact about anorexia nervosa that could be useful

In today’s society where good looks, physical fitness, appearance, and good health are used to measure success, confidence, and self-control, it is ironic that eating disorders are so prevalent in our culture. People are so concerned with how other people view their physical appearance that when they cannot meet their own or others’ expectations they often develop eating disorders. However, anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa are not the only types of eating disorders. Today there is an increasing number of obese people who suffer from overeating. These people find it especially difficult to have the kind of lifestyles that they desire. Obesity and associated medical complications take the lives of thousands of people each year. Many

Eating disorders are horrible illnesses, but I find anorexia especially disturbing. It just scares me that people with this disease would intentionally starve themselves. Even when they are clearly malnourishes and nothing but skin and bones, they still see themselves as “fat”. In addition to family support, medical treatment is often needed to restore normal weight.

Another long-term study was performed in which 84 patients were monitored after their first time being hospitalized due to them having Anorexia Nervosa. It was found that almost half of the patients reached full recovery, 10.4% met the same criteria for Anorexia Nervosa, and that 15.6% had died from anorexia reasons.(8) The part of the study that is of main interest is in regards to those who died from anorexia causes, as many of the causes of deaths were biologically and psychologically related. The causes of death for the 12 patients included bronchial pneumonia (infection of the bronchioles), sepsis, dehydration, electrolyte imbalance, and suicide.(8) Many people would expect that those who suffer from Anorexia Nervosa would typically

Anorexia Nervosa is a disorder which consumes the life of individuals who are diagnosed with it. Constantly being paranoid and watchful of food intake leads these people down a path which is hard to deviate from. In order to help patients who are diagnosed with this disorder, clinicians use various methods to try and create lasting positive effects. This paper will discuss these forms of treatment, analyzing what they are and their goals, while in a second part reflecting on myself and treatment in relation to my connection with the disorder. The goal of this paper is to give a detailed account of intervention, while using a humanistic perspective to understand the disorder at a clinical level. Both of these parts combine into an extensive look at anorexia nervosa’s effect on the individual level and how this disorder is effectively treated.