A Guide to Eating Disorders

Anorexia Nervosa

ANOREXIA NERVOSA

Anorexia Nervosa is a well-known eating disorder that is made up of starving oneself to become thinner, skinnier or weigh less. It is categorized by an obsessive desire to lose weight, which is done through refusing to eat.

This eating disorder is perhaps the most well-known eating disorder worldwide, and is what most people think of when thinking of eating disorders. This is not without reason, as it is thought that up to 3% of the general population is currently suffering with it, and it has the highest mortality rate of any eating disorder, as well as the highest mortality rate of any psychiatric condition. It has also become a fairly westernized concept, almost made popular in places such as North America.

People that suffer from Anorexia will often have caloric goals that they try to force themselves to meet, and if they do not meet these goals, they may purge by excessive exercise or other invasive measures. However, this is not Bulimia Nervosa as Bulimia requires a binge to have happened before most purging episodes.

The purging can happen in any way listed in the Bulimia chapter, and while it is common for an Anorexic individual to use methods to purge when having gone over their allotted calories for a day, some people won’t have a caloric goal or purge. Purging is not a requirement for Anorexia.

BDD is the prevalent influencer in this situation. Those with Anorexia will often be of a low weight, or perhaps just an average weight, but will perceive themselves as overweight, fat, or morbidly obese because of the dysmorphia. It will cause them to see themselves with a skewed point of view, and they will often strive for things such as thigh gaps, visible ribs and knuckled hands, as a way to prove to themselves that they are thin, when really, these are all signs of being severely underweight, to the point of their life being in serious danger.

Plenty of professionals blame the media for glamorizing skinniness and making starvation seem glamorous, but the blame can’t be placed on the modelling industry and TV alone, because it is theorized that 50-80% of the risk for both Anorexia and Bulimia is genetic. However, the internet is a dangerous place for those suffering from body-dysmorphic eating disorders, and not just because of the influx of advertisements that claim to help you lose so many pounds in so many days and the huge collection of thin celebrities with photos all over the internet, showing off their bathing suit bodies.

Pro-Ana, which is a characterization of Anorexia, similarly to Pro-Mia, is a huge internet thing that refers to the promotion of the behaviours of Anorexia. It must be added; however, that Anorexia, as well as any other eating disorders, are in no way voluntary. They are mental illnesses and those that are afflicted are so because of their brain chemicals, never due to choice. Even in Pro-ED communities like Pro-Ana, it’s still a mental illness, and those that have it have no choice. In some cases of Pro-Ana, a form of “psychosis” is present, which leads the individual to believe that they have everything under control and can stop any time they want; when in reality, they can’t. This grouping together of people all suffering from the same thing has been noted a “symptom pool” by some medical professionals, in which they flock together and the mentality of being the same as everyone else leads the individuals to believe that nothing’s wrong with their behaviours.

Thinspiration is also a dangerously common thing, in which images are taken (and often digitally altered) of extremely underweight sufferers and then posted online as something to aspire to.

POSSIBLE SIDE EFFECTS:

—-being severely underweight

—-thin appearance

—-seizures

—-abnormal blood counts

—-thinning hair

—-lanugo

—-intolerance of cold

—-irregular heartbeat

—-osteoporosis

—-mineral or chemical deficiencies that are found in uneaten foods

—-electrolyte imbalances

—-malnourishment

—-dehydration

—-brittle teeth

—-anemia

—-sallow skin

—-low energy levels

—-etc.