Premium Essay

Eating Disorder 2014

In:

Submitted By Knenos
Words 2426
Pages 10
Eating Disorders Many young men and women in the United States have a skewed perception of themselves. Some people take healthy approaches to achieve their health goals while others take a more unhealthy, and sometimes, dangerous path. Eating disorders have many health issues, along with noticeable symptoms, and proposed theories.

There are a number of different forms of eating disorders. Anorexia Nervosa, commonly referred to as anorexia, is an eating disorder characterized by reduced appetite or total aversion of food. The first type of anorexia, called restricting type, is found in those who severely limit their caloric intake and exercise to excess to cause weight loss. The second type of the disorder is called binge eating and/or purging. These anorexics eat in binges and then purge the body of the ingested food either by self induced vomiting, the ingestion of large quantities of laxatives or the overuse of diuretics and enemas to rid the body of food. Bulimia nervosa is characterized by recurrent and frequent episodes of eating unusually large amounts of food (e.g., binge-eating), and feeling a lack of control over the eating. Binge Eating is characterized by insatiable cravings that can occur any time of the day or night, usually secretive, and filled with shame. There are also eating disorders not otherwise specified. It is the category for people who do not meet the strict criteria for either Anorexia or Bulimia Nervosa, but who have significant concerns about eating and body image (ANAD, 2014).

Eating disorders affect a wide range of individuals. This severe mental illness does not discriminate on gender, race, ethnicity, age or sexual orientation. Woman and men suffer from the disease. One in two hundred American women suffer from anorexia and two to three in one hundred American woman suffer from bulimia (South Carolina

Similar Documents

Free Essay

Eating Disorders

...Eating Disorders BEH/225 Stephanie Copp July 9, 2014 Julie Bruno Most people think that hunger is all in one’s stomach; however, research shows that this is not the case. Hunger is controlled by a complicated system of chemicals that transmit signals between one’s brain and the body. “The cells in the hypothalamus communicate with cells in other parts of the brain to coordinate the release and uptake of chemicals that help regulate how much and what you eat” (Kirby, Jane RD., 2014). Motivation seems to be the role of the primary drive for hunger, and motives is a category that has been identified as biological or primary; hunger and the managing of food intake. The hypothalamus is a small; however important, part of the brain. It controls motivation and emotion, such as hunger, thirst, sexual behavior, sleep, and body temperature. In the 1940s the Drive Reduction Theory of Motivation was widely used in explaining motivation, which states that the force behind motivation was the reduction of drives; hunger being an example of a drive. However this theory is not used much in today’s world. External and internal motivations both play a part in one’s eating habits, and they can affect one positively or negatively; internal motivations being one’s emotions and external motivations being our environment and culture. Negative effects such as over eating, not eating enough, or just poor eating habits can lead to eating disorders. Even though there is no one single...

Words: 805 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

How Little Is Too Much

...below the recommended size and weight for people in their age group. As a result, females who are unable to conform to the idea being put forth in the media are taking extreme measure to be more like their role models. Those that fall short of the idea of the “perfect” body shape can be vulnerable to depression, poor self-esteem, and general body dissatisfaction. With the increase in technology, we have more exposure to unrealistic standard for beauty. One example of this downside to technology is that of pro-eating disorder websites which are simply known as pro-ana/pro-mia websites. “Ana” is short for anorexia nervosa. It is a common eating disorder where individuals obsess about weight, what they eat and how much exercise they participate in. “Mia” is the shortened form of bulimia nervosa, which is a very common eating disorder where the person binge eats. They will eat large amounts of food and then find ways to purge the calories, in some unhealthy manner. Both disorders are often diagnosed together, with an individual being preoccupied with their weight and appearance. The “pro” in the pro-ana/mia sites does not necessarily imply the “supports the promotion of,”...

Words: 1896 - Pages: 8

Premium Essay

Anorexia Nervosa Intervention

...Application of Clinical Psychology Paper Becky Smart, Carina Codorean-Forniciov, Christy Velasco, Sara Kaminiski, Sheron Jenkins Psy 480 Augusta 18, 2014 Dr. Stephany Lewis Anorexia Nervosa Intervention Introduction This paper analyzes the serious disorder of anorexia nervosa which is among the highest of any disorders and has about 10 times the death rate for young women without anorexia. Anorexia Nervosa has been categorized as a serious disorder that occurs in approximately 1 in 200 women in developed countries such as North America and Europe. It usually starts in adolescence and as previously stated, mostly affects women. Those suffering from this eating disorder, have very low body weight and a distorted body image. Their dangerously low body weight leads to serious consequences creating other body ailments which in turn create the need for long term treatment. Factors of Anorexia Nervosa There are different factors that contribute in a person having an eating disorder. The factors vary from biological, psychological and social. A psychological factor that is very common is a lack of control which causes the sufferer to feel over analytical of their weight which gives them a sense of control. Another factor is having low self-esteem. Low self-esteem can have many contributors such as a person feeling out of control, lonely, angry and anxiety. Biological factors involved with anorexia nervosa which can and will severely affect the general health and...

Words: 1219 - Pages: 5

Free Essay

Ptsd

...McDougal Chapter 15 - #1 Anxiety disorders are a class of disorders marked by feelings of excessive apprehension and anxiety. Studies suggest that anxiety disorders are quite common, and affect roughly 19% of the population. For this assignment I am focusing on a subject with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Post-traumatic Stress Disorder involves enduring psychological disturbance attributed to the experience of a major traumatic event. My subject is now 38, and lived in New Orleans when hurricane Katrina ravished through the south. His symptoms include re-experiencing the event in the form of nightmares, emotional numbing, alienation, anxiety, anger, and guilt. Research suggests that about 7% of the population has suffered from PTSD at some point in their life, and that prevalence is twice as high among women.¹ The etiology of PTSD, like most psychological disorders, develops out of complicated interactions among a variety of biological and psychological factors. In this case, my subject had witnessed many people die, lose their homes, and devastate his city of New Orleans. There are many factors that play into the role of PTSD; I’ll briefly cover each of them. * Biological factors: In studies that assess the impact of heredity on psychological disorders, investigators look at concordance rates. A concordance rate indicates the percentage of twin pairs or other pairs of relatives who exhibit the same disorder. The results of these studies suggest...

Words: 1615 - Pages: 7

Premium Essay

Determination of Eating Disorders of Selected Uplb Female Dormers

...DETERMINATION OF EATING DISORDERS OF SELECTED UPLB FEMALE DORMERS INTRODUCTION Background and Rationale A lot of resources give a wide range of definitions of eating disorders. Basically, an eating disorder (ED) defined as a problem with certain eating patterns in line also with manners concerning controlling body mass (Fairburn and Harrison, 2003). In addition to that, Grohol (2013) points out that EDs are very rampant but many families are still not aware of it. Nowadays, EDs could be prevented and even subjected into different treatments. National Institute of Health (2014) have recorded that the value of the women in particular having EDs are two and a half times larger than that of men. These disorders occur usually during adolescent years. Primarily, the reason for this is because girls during puberty stage specifically are more prone to be very aware on their physical appearance. For instance, the ratio of ED cases in the United States are roughly 10:1 and it is fast increasing (The Eating Disorder Foundation, 2013). Philippines, being a third world country, is also running after society’s fashion yet body fit trends. University of the Philippines – Los Banos (UPLB) community including female dormers are having their preferences and lifestyles with regards to food. Dormers, especially new ones are still adjusting at some point when they started settling in their dorms and have encountered various eating dilemmas. Determination of EDs are soon addressed...

Words: 1301 - Pages: 6

Premium Essay

Eating Disorders in Athletes

...RUNNING HEAD: EATING DISORDERS IN ATHLETES 1 Eating Disorders in Athlete American Public University February 21, 2015 Kellyanne Michael Eating Disorders in Athletes 2 Eating Disorders in Athletes Looking in your mirror at home, do you always like what you see? Most people come to accept themselves and their body image just the way it is. Other’s struggle to achieve the perfect body. They strive to be what they see all the time in fashion magazines and movies. It’s a never ending obsession to be thin and perfect. This inevitably can lead to eating disorders. Eating disorders can cause someone to have a negative image of themselves and food becomes their enemy. It’s not news that eating disorders are a huge problem in the United States but what about eating disorders in sports specifically. Athletes are not immune to disorders just because they are considered the elite in their perspective sport. It is said that at least thirteen percent of athletes have some type of eating disorders. This paper will...

Words: 2028 - Pages: 9

Premium Essay

Comparison Of Anorexia And Bulimia

...with being thin. So many people of all ages are finding themselves fighting eating disorders because of this obsession with being thin. The top two eating disorders are anorexia and bulimia. According to the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Related Disorders (ANAD), there are approximately twenty-four million people suffering from an eating disorder. (anad.org) It is amazing how these disorders are psychological. While anorexia is not really about food; it is an unhealthy way to try and cope with emotional problems. When you have it you often equate thinness with self-worth, so they have an intense fear of gaining weight or becoming fat even if they are under weight. Or they may have an extreme drive for perfectionism, which means they may never think they're thin enough. Whereas with bulimia they are preoccupied with their weight and body shape, and judge their self severely and harshly for their self-perceived flaws. Because it's related to self-image — and not just about food. (Web) (Mayoclinic.org) or (Anad.org)...

Words: 390 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Eating Disorders

...Eating Disorders Christine Elaine Garrison BEH/225 June 27, 2014 University of Phoenix Eating Disorders Eating disorders are very common in our culture many people have them or know someone who does. With our cultures unrealistic views on what is beautiful the supper skinny models that woman see everywhere makes many people think that they have to live up to those standards. Some people feel if they cannot be up to these standards that they are not good enough and this causes them to do things that a person in their normal state of mind would never do. When people starve themselves to like in anorexia they end up developing many different psychological problems and find excuses to keep up with their destructive habits. There are also people who are addicted to eating they use eating as a way to feel a void that they feel like they have. They lean to use eating as a cooping tool in turn they become obese then they use eating to deal with their depression which works as a double edged sword. What they love is what is destroying them physically as well as mentally. This can also be considered emotional eating this is eating when you’re angry, sad, or even anxious. Many cultures have different views as what is considered attractive these variables play a large part in what peoples diet habits are this can be seen in the magazines and television from the area to show what they culture is expecting people to look like and what they are expected to eat. Women have been the...

Words: 547 - Pages: 3

Free Essay

#Thcbeejay

...Eating Disorders Latonya Lewis BEH/225 Pamela Applewhite June 26, 2015 Most people think that hunger is all in one’s stomach; however, research shows that this is not the case. Hunger is controlled by a complicated system of chemicals that transmit signals between one’s brain and the body. “The cells in the hypothalamus communicate with cells in other parts of the brain to coordinate the release and uptake of chemicals that help regulate how much and what you eat” (Kirby, Jane RD., 2014). Motivation seems to be the role of the primary drive for hunger, and motives is a category that has been identified as biological or primary; hunger and the managing of food intake. The hypothalamus is a small; however important, part of the brain. It controls motivation and emotion, such as hunger, thirst, sexual behavior, sleep, and body temperature. In the 1940s the Drive Reduction Theory of Motivation was widely used in explaining motivation, which states that the force behind motivation was the reduction of drives; hunger being an example of a drive. However this theory is not used much in today’s world. External and internal motivations both play a part in one’s eating habits, and they can affect one positively or negatively; internal motivations being one’s emotions and external motivations being our environment and culture. Negative effects such as over eating, not eating enough, or just poor eating habits can lead to eating disorders. Even though there is no one single cause...

Words: 803 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Research Paper

...Individual Programmatic Assessment University of Phoenix PSYCH / 630 Individual Programmatic Assessment: Bulimia Nervosa Introduction Psychological disorders occur frequently. A common psychological disorder, selected, is bulimia nervosa. Bulimia nervosa has several therapeutic interventions that can help when treating the disorder. Therapeutic interventions can be helpful, but have different measures of effectiveness. The measures of effectiveness consist of validity, efficacy, symptom, behavior management, and recidivism. These measures should be identified, prior to deciding which therapeutic interventions can be most helpful to the individuals, diagnosed with the psychological disorder. Many common symptoms are associated with bulimia nervosa. Rates of symptom reduction or management have been reported with the three treatments. Furthermore, the neurophysiological underpinnings of diseases and disorders have to be identified, along with the contemporary attitudes towards the three treatments chosen. Psychological Disorder: Bulimia Nervosa Bulimia nervosa is known as an eating disorder. This eating disorder brings about the effects of bingeing and purging. People, suffering from bulimia nervosa, frequently eat a lot of food at one time. A short period after eating the food, the person, then, attempts to remove the food from his or her system by vomiting, through medication that creates bowl movements, or by working out. Working out would lead them to throwing...

Words: 2389 - Pages: 10

Free Essay

Anorexia Nervosa

... Anorexia Nervosa One of the most common eating disorders in the world is anorexia nervosa. A patient who suffers from anorexia nervosa loses at least fifteen percent of the normal minimum weight. Anorexia nervosa incidences are increasing these days with many cases recorded for the past few decades. In every 100,000 persons, there are between eight to thirteen cases of people suffering from anorexia disorders. For instance, statistics show that nearly seven thousand people in Hong Kong suffer from anorexia nervosa. Moreover, anorexia nervosa is more prevalent among girls under adolescent between the ages of 15 to 20 years of age who are a high risk. Moreover, more than 95% of people suffering from anorexia nervosa are females. Anorexia nervosa, and according to research it normally starts affecting adolescent girls from the age young age of around 13 years all through their entire life up to around 20 years of age. As a result, this essay will target the cases of the adolescent girls between 15 to 20 years of age as they have higher risk or have the problem already. Individuals experiencing eating disorder at times find it difficult to differentiate between what is either normal or abnormal. Anorexia nervosa has many behaviors and thoughts among them body image distortion, inability of maintaining healthy body weights, eating habits that are scarce and fear of eating due to weight gain (Bryson, 2014). Anorexia nervosa may not have huge impacts compared...

Words: 1568 - Pages: 7

Premium Essay

Neurodevelopmental and Neurocognitive Disorders Paper

...Neurodevelopmental and Neurocognitive Disorders Paper Photographic memories stick in people’s minds. Emotions and reactions that cannot be erased and are burned into the memory in one’s mind can have detrimental effects as well as saving someone’s sanity. Neurodevelopmental disorders are biological brain disorders that are responsible for early onset brain dysfunctions. The disorders can be genetic or acquired from trauma, heredity, the environment, or illness. This paper will discuss the behavioral criteria for two different disorders, along with the incidence rates, causes, and two treatment options for each disorder. The two different disorders that will be talked about in this paper will be autism and eating disorders. Autism What is autism? Autism is not considered by many a “serious” disorder; this disorder starts in infancy, and may be characterized by different factors: impaired language and communication, repetitive disorder and abnormal social development. The diagnosis of autism is based on “observed behavior” and educational and psychological testing. When trying to determine whether a child is autistic or not there are a number of signs that parents and observers can watch for. Children that have poor eye contact, little interest in other people, and do not respond to their name are considered to be autistic. Other signs involve the child having trouble with their speech. Autism begins in early brain development and obvious sign may occur between 2 and 3 years...

Words: 1436 - Pages: 6

Free Essay

Body Image

...television or read a magazine? If you have then you have been exposed to the media revealing models as beautiful. What you don’t know is that a decent percentage of these models are suffering from eating disorders. I trust the media is to blame for our country’s epidemic of eating disorders because, not only do magazines and television portray skinny to be in, but also songs in our nation deliver the attitude. The burdens to encounter the world’s demands to reaching self-satisfaction with one’s body image emotional have influenced the impression of eating disorders. As people are exposed to countless forms of media not only just on television or in a magazine but on the radio, internet & part of our everyday life media being a huge method of communication has been characterized as the leading reason of why people suffer from eating disorders. The role of media profoundly adds to the increase of abnormal eating behaviors within an individual. Without society and the media generating a fabricated image of attractiveness, the calculation of women suffering from eating disorders would decline extremely, women would discontinue trying to grasp a body weight that is unnatural also practically unmanageable to accomplish. Body image has been an ongoing issue in the world and eating disorders are frequently developed, especially in females, in an effort to keep their bodies “fit” and “in shape.” The physical appearance of a person says nothing about who they are as an individual. One...

Words: 2834 - Pages: 12

Premium Essay

Eating Disorders: Anorexia Nervosa

...Anorexia nervosa is a disorder characterized by abnormal eating behaviors. People with anorexia have a fear of gaining weight which causes them to try and maintain a low weight. They will do anything to prevent weight gain. This includes starvation and exercising too much. They do this because not only do they have the fear of gaining weight they have a distorted body image which means even if they are extremely thin they will believe that they are overweight. (Ehrlich, 2015). Anorexia is not really about food and weight at its core. Many eating disorders are much more complicated than that and they run a lot deeper than just appearance. The real cause of the disorder could be depression, loneliness, insecurity or feeling out of control. Typically,...

Words: 1328 - Pages: 6

Free Essay

Anorexia Nervosa

...Becki Shetterly Intro To Psychology Psych Disorder Paper February 10, 2015 Anorexia Nervosa What is Anorexia Nervosa? Anorexia Nervosa is an Eating Disorder where the sufferer has a fear of any weight gain. Anorexia in extreme cases can be deadly due to the sufferer losing too much weight and not getting the right Vitamins and Nutrients. Anorexia if left untreated can most certainly result in death or irreversible health issues such as osteoporosis. This potentially deadly eating disorder is characterized by self starvation and excessive weight loss. Individuals are diagnosed when they are at least 15% or lower their normal healthy body weight (Goldberg 2014). The term Anorexia literally means "loss of appetite". This definition is very misleading. It's not that Anorexics lose their appetite it's that they may be hungry but refuse food. Persons with Anorexia may eat in secret or have strict rituals that pertain to eating and or food preparation. Individuals often times perceive themselves as fat even when they are extremely underweight. They have intense fears of becoming fat even if they are quite skinny. The sufferers see themselves as fat and see this as a "flaw" they try to correct it by cutting way down on their food intake and excessively exercising sometimes even in secret (WebMD). Anorexia is recognizable by the plain view of bones underneath the skin almost as if the bones are trying to break out of the individuals skin. Other common symptoms of Anorexia include;...

Words: 1428 - Pages: 6