Anorexia Nervosa
By: Kendall Marrant
What is anorexia nervosa?
Anorexia nervosa is a serious sometimes life threating eating disorder. Anorexia nervosa is characterized by self- starvation and excessive weight loss. The exact cause of anorexia nervosa is not clear, but things such as biological, psychological, and environmental factors may play a part.
Biological: they are not clear as the what genes are involved, but there may be genetic changes that make some people more likely to develop anorexia.
psychological:some emotional characteristics may contribute to anorexia.
Environmental: peer pressure
symptom
Physical:
- Extreme weight loss
- abnormal blood count
- Thin appearance
- Irregular heart rhythms
- Dry or yellowish skin
Emotional\behavioral:
- Denial of hunger
- Lying about how much they have eaten
- Reduced interest in sex
- Depressing mood
- Irritability
- Fear of gaining weight
- Frequent comments about feeling fat when being normal weight or below
How do you diagnose anorexia nervosa?
Prevalence
- Between 0.5-15% of American women suffer from anorexia
- around .3% of men suffer from anorexia
- anorexia is more commonly seen in teenage girls
Prognosis and treatment
Fortunately you are able to recover from anorexia in few ways. It is best for someone recovering or wanting to recover from anorexia to go through counseling or therapy. One option for counseling is nutritional counseling. during this counseling the individual would learn to eat normally again, and develop a healthier attitudes about food and their body.
Intresting facts
- As girls get older the fear of being fat get worse and worse
- Men with the same sex attractions are twice as likely to suffer from anorexic thinking patterns