Anorexia Nervosa
-
- Causes
- Co-occurring Disorders
- Diagnosis
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Other Concerns
- Signs and Symptoms
- Treatment
Anorexia Nervosa is an eating disorder
Characteristics include:
- severe weight loss
- a dangerously low body weight
- a distorted body image that drives an otherwise high-functioning person to starve herself (or himself).
Anorexics keep themselves underweight by:
- Eating sparsely and infrequently
- Engaging in techniques to compensate for any caloric intake: inducing vomiting, use of laxatives and exercising intensely.
Persons with anorexia often fail to recognize that their actions are unhealthy or that their perceptions of their bodies are not normal. In fact, there are some people who develop a type of anorexia called “orthorexia” who begin to restrict what they eat in an effort to be healthy, and they increasingly and obsessively restrict their intake as a result of perceiving foods to be unhealthy.
Epidemiology:
- Anorexia is diagnosed overwhelmingly among females
- 5-15% of those diagnosed are male. Prevalence among males could be higher, since symptoms of starvation are less obvious in young males than in young females
- Usually manifests during adolescence
- Adolescents and young adults with anorexia are often high-achievers and perfectionists—successful in school and popular with peers—making it difficult for parents and other adults to see how troubled they are.
- Anorexia is extremely serious —a life-threatening psychiatric disorder that, untreated, leads to fatal medical problems and a high rate of suicide.
- The earlier it is treated, the better the odds of the patient recovering, and avoiding future relapse.