Anorexia Nervosa
Eating Disorders
Most of us take our body for granted we wake up in the morning assuming we will be alert enough to handle our required daily activities; we eat two or three meals a day and perhaps a number of snacks, we may engage in some vigorous exercise and, on some days, in sexual activity. We don't focus on our functioning to any great degree unless it is disrupted by illness or disease. Yet Psychological and social factors can significantly disrupt these activity of Survival. Eating Disorder comes under such Psychological disorder. This disorder diagnoses Bulimia Nervosa, Anorexia Nervosa, Binge Eating Disorder, obesity etc.
About Anorexia Nervosa:
Individual with anorexia nervosa, which literally means a "nervous loss of appetite” (an incorrect definition because appetite often remains healthy) differ in one important way from individuals with bulimia. They are so successful at losing weight that they put their lives in considerable danger, people with anorexia are proud of both their diets and their extraordinary control. Many people lose weight because of a medical condition, but people with anorexia have an intense fear of obesity and relentlessly pursue thinness.
DSM-5 specifies two subtypes of anorexic nervosa. In the restricting type- Individuals diet to limit calorie intake; in the binge eating purging type- they rely on purging.
SYMPTOMS
1. Individual weighs less than 85% of what is considered normal for that person's age and weight.
2. People with anorexia have an intense fear of gaining weight, and the fear is not reduced by weight loss.
3. Individual have a distorted sense of their body shape. Try to maintain the shape and fat of abdomen, buttocks and thighs.
4. In females, the extreme emaciation causes amenorrhea, the loss of menstrual period.
5. As a demonstration of absolute control over their eating, some become expert chefs, Preparing all food for the family.
MEDICAL CONSEQUENCES
One common complication of anorexia nervosa is cessation of menstruation (AMENORRHEA), which also occurs relatively often in bulimia. Other medical signs and Symptoms of anorexia include dry Skin, brittle hair or nails, and sensitivity to or intolerance of cold temperatures. Also it is common to see lanugo, downy hair on the limbs and cheeks. Blood pressure often falls, heart rate slows, kidney and gastrointestinal problems develop.
ASSOCIATED PSYCHOLOGICAL DISORDER
In anorexia anxiety disorders and mood disorders often present in individual. Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) often occurs.
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REFERENCE
David H. Barlow, BOSTON UNIVERSITY
V. Mark Durand, UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA- ST. PETERSBERG
2. ABNORMAL PSYCHOLOGY: 9TH EDITION
Davision G.C., Neale, J.M. and Kring, A.M.
3. ABNORMAL PSYCHOLOGY
Allov. L.B.: Riskind, J.H. and Manos, M.J.
4. ABNORMAL PSYCHOLOGY AND MODERN LIFE. NY: Harper and Collins. 2000
Carson. R.C. and Butcher. N.J.