Anorexia Nervosa

Tate Ford Ford 1

11/30/06

First Aid & Safety

Anorexia Nervosa

Many people in today’s society including men not just women often dream about having the perfect body. Some may work hard for it and others may think they cannot achieve that dream. In our social order, we seem to make body image appear to be almost one of the most important things. Young girls less than thirteen years of age can start to see themselves as being "fat" even if they are thin. In fashion magazines for instance, you will hardly ever see pictures of overweight or slightly overweight people.

Anorexia is an eating disorder that usually strikes women between the ages of fifteen and thirty-five. An estimated one thousand females will die each year from anorexia. About eighty percent of females suffer from a sub clinical eating disorder and twenty percent will turn into full-blown anorexics in their lifetime. These are statistics that we know of. Anorexia means “without appetite” Nervosa means “of nervous origin.”(McGraw- Hill pg.142) This condition is both a physical illness and a psychiatric illness. Anorexia nervosa can be a very severe illness, including a risk of death from starvation.

Anorexia may not be noticed in the early stages because it often starts as an innocent diet. They often become hyperactive because they exercise frantically in an attempt to burn calories to lose weight. Even though the anorexic is depressed, she still feels “fat” and wants to hide her “ugly, fat body”. A victim does not need to appear underweight or even average to suffer any signs or symptoms of anorexia. Many men and

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women with eating disorders appear not to be underweight, but this does not mean they suffer any less or are in any less danger. This is why in later and more dangerous stages; family members may not notice the disease because the anorexic usually wears layered and baggy clothes, or can begin to pocket and discard food instead of eating it. Woman who are suffering from clinical anorexia, not just dieting or fasting, when her weight has fallen to 15% below the normal range and she has not menstruated for at least three months. Sometimes the diagnosis is made because of drowsiness and lethargy that are affecting her schoolwork. Other symptoms are dry skin, brittle nails and hair, constipation, anemia, and swollen joints. The level of female hormones in the blood of an anorectic woman falls drastically, and her sexual development may be delayed. Her heart rate and blood pressure can become dangerously low, and loss of potassium in the blood may cause irregular heart rhythms.

Presence of a low self-esteem is the most common element in anorexia nervosa. Stress, anxiety and unhappiness can also be leading factors in an anorexic life. Anorexia is their way of dealing and coping with the negative things going on in their life. Most people with eating disorders share certain personality traits, low self-esteem, feelings of helplessness and a fear of becoming fat. People with Anorexia tend to be “too good to be true.” They rarely disobey, keep their feelings to themselves, and tend to be perfectionists, good students, and excellent athletes. Some researchers believe that people with anorexia restrict food, particularly carbohydrates, to gain a sense of control in some area of their lives. They have followed the wishes of others in their lives, and they have not learned how to cope with the problems typical of adolescence, growing up, and

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becoming independent. Controlling their own weight offers two advantages in their eyes; first they can take control of their bodies and secondly, gain approval of others. Eventually they become out of control, becoming dangerously thin. (Microsoft® Encarta 98 Encyclopedia). According to one estimate, more than two-thirds of college women indulge in an eating binge once a year, 40% at least once a month, and 20% once a week. As many as 4% of all adults (60% of