Anorexia nervosa

With all the talk on obesity in class, reminded me of a paper I wrote my freshman year about anorexia. Anorexia is the exact opposite of obesity and in my opinion I do not think it is discussed enough, which I will discuss during the progression of the blog.

What is anorexia nervosa? According to the Mayo Clinic “is an eating disorder characterized by an abnormally low body weight, intense fear of gaining weight and a distorted perception of body weight.” People who have anorexia believe they are bigger than they actually are; there’s a disconnect between reality and insecurity. What people who have this disorder see in the mirror is not the reality, and that’s why anorexia is not only an eating disorder but also a mental health issue.

“The starving disease” became a known problem in America in the 1970’s, where parents were advised to seek medical intervention if they noticed their teens developing an aversion to eating food.” (Braithwaite, 2014). The disease is more prominent in teenage women and young girls, reason being that society and media puts more pressure on women to be a particular weight for them to be found attractive to the rest of the world. However, only 5%  of the body type portrayed in the media as the ideal is possessed naturally by American females. Men do suffer from anorexia; it is more predominant in men who work in the fashion world, most especially male models. Statistically speaking 10 million men suffer from an eating disorder, which is 50% lower than in women.

In 1999 “more than 8 million Americans suffer from an eating disorder 95% of those who suffer are female, and the number of males with eating disorders is increasing.” – Smith, Erica. Anorexia Nervosa: When Food is the Enemy. New York: Rosen Publishing Group. Inc, 1999. Sadly the numbers of people with an eating disorders has gone up by 26.67%.

There are two types of anorexia, purging and the restricting type of anorexia  with restricting you control what you eat, so portion control majorly and dieting. Purging is when people eat food but later on find ways to get the food out of their system such as throwing up.

There is a difference between anorexia and dieting and this article has a chart that explains it well. To me the main difference is people who are dieting are doing it because they want to be lose weight in a healthy way, individuals who are showing symptoms of anorexia are deliberately trying to lose weight because they want to be extremely skinny and would do anything to achieve this.

Your probably wondering why you should care, this is why.

“25% of college-aged women engage in bingeing and purging as a weight-management technique.The mortality rate associated with anorexia nervosa is 12 times higher than the death rate associated with all causes of death for females 15-24 years old.”

 

6 thoughts on “Anorexia nervosa

  1. oob5040 Post author

    The pill that makes you gain weight is a very smart idea, i know that there are some drinks that make you gain appetite which would also help with the re-integration into healthy eating. I feel that to eliminate anorexia it’s more psychologically and societal based. We have a problem in society, the way that women and men are falsely misrepresented in the media really affects the younger generation and makes them insecure which can lead to mental health issues

  2. Catherine Mott

    This is extremely sad to hear. In itself, knowing there are 25% of the women around me suffering from these disorders and using them as a weight management system. There are different ways to lose weight in college aside from developing an eating disorder. According to CBS News there are over 50 weight loss tips for college students which are said to be effective so many should think about this when deciding they want to lose weight. Another sad thing is these disorders can be developed in college in many different ways. Social atmospheres are changing and so is the overall environment for many students. It is important to realize the benefit of exercising while at college because it provides a mental break for the body while helping it stay in physical shape at the same time. It is important to stay in shape, but it is important to eat, there just has to be a balance of both.

  3. Catherine Mott

    This is extremely sad to hear. In itself, knowing there are 25% of the women around me suffering from these disorders and using them as a weight management system. There are different ways to lose weight in college aside from developing an eating disorder. According to CBS News there are over 50 weight loss tips for college students which are said to be effective so many should think about this when deciding they want to lose weight. Another sad thing is these disorders can be developed in college in many different ways. Social atmospheres are changing and so is the overall environment for many students. It is important to realize the benefit of exercising while at college because it provides a mental break for the body while helping it stay in physical shape at the same time. It is important to stay in shape, but it is important to eat, there just has to be a balance of both.

  4. Jada Baity

    I am so glad that I came across this post. Anorexia Nervosa is a very scary disease because the men and women diagnosed with it do not see that they are killing themselves and that it is unhealthy. Just like you said, they feel as if they are too big and when they are diagnosed, they fight against the diagnosis because in their own minds they are too fat. Therefore losing weight is helping them, not harming them. There are actual medications that can give anorexia nervosa patients a head start to becoming healthy again. It gives them what they need to put on the weight without making the patient eat. In fact, some anorexia patients find it repulsive to eat so taking a pill is much easier. So there are treatments and, hopefully, somewhere down the road, we will find a complete sure for anorexia nervosa once and for all.

  5. oob5040 Post author

    Hi, yes it is very sad indeed. In one of the articles it talked about people who were previously anorexic becoming bulimic. To be quite honest with you, i don’t really believe that psychiatrists are much help. individuals who suffer anorexia need to be loved and know there are people there for them. Most importantly the individual needs to realize they have a problem and many times people don’t realize that it is a problem.

  6. Eric Choi

    It’s sad to hear that a mental/eating disorder can be caused by societal and media pressure. The statistic of college aged women surprised me. To think that 1 out of 4 women in college will engage in such harmful activities all to live up to the “standards” of society is disheartening. You mentioned that people with anorexia believe they are bigger than they actually are. Could a mental health issue like this be cured? This reminds me of a movie that I have seen called “A Beautiful Mind” where John Nash was diagnosed with schizophrenia. He never was really cured of the disease but he eventually adapted by ignoring all the hallucinations that came around and determining what was real and fake. This topic really makes me curious on how mental disorders can affect the brain physically and if we can come up with actual medication to solve these issues. Could psychiatry even help? Mental disorders are a scary thing, because no one else can’t possibly know what exactly you are going through. It is your brain and your personality.

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