Assessment Name: Joanna Gniazdowska Part 1: Know about different eating disorders 1a. Describe at least two different eating disorders. Eating disorder 1: Anorexia Nervosa – unrealistic perception of body weight and fear of gaining weight or becoming fat. People suffering from anorexia consume restrictive quantities of food which can lead to starvation. They count calories, may be obsessed over weight loss programmes, repeat weighing and physical examinations, skip meals and use laxatives.
Two main eating disorders are anorexia and bulimia. People with anorexia have a great fear of weight gain and have a view of their body size and shape. As a result, they strive to keep a very low body weight. Some restrict their food intake by dieting, fasting, or excessive exercise. Bulimia is characterized by habitual binge eating.
When it comes to anorexia, eating and meal times can become very stressful. A person may obsessively count how many calories they eat and exercise multiple times in a day. There are two types of anorexia; restrictive anorexia and purging anorexia. The restricting type is achieved by controlling calorie intake by crash dieting, over exercising fasting, etc (Smith and Segal, 2014). Purging anorexia is achieved by vomiting, using laxatives or diuretics (Smith and Segal, 2014).
Anorexia nervosa is basically an obsessive fear of gaining weight. It is when a person has a loss of appetite and a distorted image of him/herself and body. When a noticeable weight loss happens in an abnormally short amount of time, it is commonly linked to this disorder. Bulimia nervosa is when a person does an act called “binging and purging.” In this case, the victim of this disorder tends to over-eat, but when this person is done, he or she forces the food out of the body. Normally, this is done, because
Discuss psychological explanations of one eating disorder (8+16 marks) The DSM defines eating disorders as ‘illnesses in which the victims suffer severe disturbances in their eating behaviours and related thoughts and emotions’. It is argued that the preoccupation with food in many Western cultures, coupled with the obsession of losing weight has led to the emergence of food and eating disorders such as Anorexia Nervosa (AN). As society has developed its understanding of the causes of eating disorders, it has become apparent that they are as much a mental disorder as they are a physical disorder. Thus psychological explanations have emphasised the risk factors of media, culture, personality and childhood experiences in the cause of Anorexia Nervosa. The DSM (IV) states four criteria for AN.
Low mood can often result in comfort eating, although occasionally it seems to have the opposite effect. Studies seek to investigate the effect of mood and distress on eating often look for either hypophagia( excess under-eating) or hyperphagia( excessive eating) as well as changes in patterns of consumption and food preferences. Odgen(2007) introduced a masking hypotheses where he observed that dieters who overeat in response to low mood may be seeking to mask their negative mood( dysphasia) with a temporary heightened mood induced by eating. Also, other people might get carbohydrate-craving syndrome in response to their low mood where they have an irresistible desire to consume sweet or starchy foods. Eating such things triggers an improvement in mood as carbohydrates are an important source of the amino acid tryptophan which is an essential building block for serotonin.
Not enough details are provided in these scenes to conclude what exact eating disorder Nina would be diagnosed with or if instead of suffering from an eating disorder she is displaying symptoms of disordered eating. While disordered eating can be defined on a continuum from eating disorders, there are still some distinct differences between the two. Disordered eating is considered more of a “habitual reaction to life situations” while an eating disorder is classified as a mental illness, (Anshel, 2004). The thoughts about food, eating, and body image are also of a more compulsive nature in disordered eating versus consistent and frequent for those with eating disorders, (Anshel, 2004). The last major difference between the two is in the severity of the medical problems they can cause.
Identifying and defining themselves according to their perceived "fatness", eating disordered people tend to conclude that they are unacceptable and undesirable, and as a result, feel quite insecure and inadequate, especially about their bodies. For them, controlling their eating behaviors is the logical pathway in their quest for thinness. The current article is designed to provide you with more information about the nature of eating disorders, their causes, potential treatments, and strategies for prevention. This information can be helpful in
Role of Sexuality and Gender in Correlation to Eating Disorders Joshua Evans University of Arkansas-Fort Smith Psychology of Human Sexuality-Dr. Gregory Roberts Role of Sexuality and Gender in Correlation to Eating Disorders The role of sex, gender, and sexuality factors on disordered eating is a vital aspect to investigate. Eating disorders occur in approximately 0.5-3.0% of the population, with more affected females than males (Baker et al., 2009). However, males should not be discounted when it comes to the seriousness of developing and treating any form of an eating disorder. Although a convergence in eating disorder pervasiveness is being seen between the sexes, a sex difference still exists. Interestingly enough, sexual preference in terms of sexuality is also a factor under close inquiry.
Obesity as Social Stigma Compulsive overeating (binging but not purging) is most often considered a bad habit that can easily be changed. On the contrary, compulsive overeating is an eating disorder that is more properly defined as an addiction rather than a simple habit. Overeaters use eating as a means of hiding from their emotions and coping with the stress and problems of their lives, turning to food for comfort. Compulsive overeating is characterized by uncontrollable eating that results in weight gain that may lead to obesity. According to the American Obesity Association (2002), obesity is a “complex, multi-factorial chronic disease involving environmental (social and cultural) and genetic, physiologic, metabolic, behavioral and psychological components.” AOA points out that approximately 127 million adults in the U.S. are overweight, with 60 million being obese.