Anorexia Nervosa Research Paper
LongTerm Psychological and Physiological Effects of Anorexia Nervosa.
Emma Salisbury Cedarville University
1
Anorexia Nervosa, according to the MerriamWebster dictionary, is “a serious eating disorder primarily of young women in their teens and early twenties that is characterized especially by a pathological fear of weight gain leading to faulty eating patterns, malnutrition, and usually excessive weight loss.” According to Sullivan (1995), Anorexia Nervosa is the most deadly mental illness, killing between five percent and twenty percent of those who develop it. Those who struggle with Anorexia are plagued by a perception of themselves as overweight and even obese, while they …show more content…
1850) The anterior cingulate cortex, according to Devinsky, Morrell, and Vogt (1995, p. 279), “appears to play a crucial role in initiation, motivation, and goaldirected behaviours.” In other words, the physical system in the brain
3
that seems to affect motivations and behaviors is distinctly different in those with Anorexia. While the full effect of the damage has not yet been fully determined, this grey matter has not been proven to fully return even after patients returned to a normal weight.
Anorexia Nervosa also has severe longterm emotional and psychological effects. First of all, there has been shown to be a strong correlation between poor emotional processing and
Anorexia (Oldershaw et al, 2012). Many people with Anorexia cite a need for control as being a major factor in their struggle with this illness. At times, Anorexia is a coping mechanism to help a person deal with feelings of helplessness. One controls the food put into the body, and by putting less food into the body one can manipulate the size of the body to be considered more desirable. …show more content…
Those with
Anorexia form a mental ideal body or ideal weight, always very skewed towards extreme thinness,
5
and then starve themselves in order to reach it (Cash & Deagle, 1997). Based on personal reports of those who struggle with Anorexia and the shocking evidence of proAna websites and
“thinspiration,” the Anorexic ideal is truly skeletal. Because a person must starve herself to reach this ideal, food is often seen as an enemy or temptation. Surrendering to this enemy is weakness and giving into this temptation is tantamount to sin, and so the person may fast or eat extremely little for very extended periods of time. Because sufferers train themselves see food as an enemy, Anorexia leads to a continuing difficult relationship with food.
In conclusion, the emotional and physical effects of Anorexia Nervosa are severe and longlasting. Damage to the heart and bones, as well as shrinkage of the grey matter of the brain may last throughout the entirety of a person’s life even if she recovers from her eating
Emma Salisbury Cedarville University
1
Anorexia Nervosa, according to the MerriamWebster dictionary, is “a serious eating disorder primarily of young women in their teens and early twenties that is characterized especially by a pathological fear of weight gain leading to faulty eating patterns, malnutrition, and usually excessive weight loss.” According to Sullivan (1995), Anorexia Nervosa is the most deadly mental illness, killing between five percent and twenty percent of those who develop it. Those who struggle with Anorexia are plagued by a perception of themselves as overweight and even obese, while they …show more content…
1850) The anterior cingulate cortex, according to Devinsky, Morrell, and Vogt (1995, p. 279), “appears to play a crucial role in initiation, motivation, and goaldirected behaviours.” In other words, the physical system in the brain
3
that seems to affect motivations and behaviors is distinctly different in those with Anorexia. While the full effect of the damage has not yet been fully determined, this grey matter has not been proven to fully return even after patients returned to a normal weight.
Anorexia Nervosa also has severe longterm emotional and psychological effects. First of all, there has been shown to be a strong correlation between poor emotional processing and
Anorexia (Oldershaw et al, 2012). Many people with Anorexia cite a need for control as being a major factor in their struggle with this illness. At times, Anorexia is a coping mechanism to help a person deal with feelings of helplessness. One controls the food put into the body, and by putting less food into the body one can manipulate the size of the body to be considered more desirable. …show more content…
Those with
Anorexia form a mental ideal body or ideal weight, always very skewed towards extreme thinness,
5
and then starve themselves in order to reach it (Cash & Deagle, 1997). Based on personal reports of those who struggle with Anorexia and the shocking evidence of proAna websites and
“thinspiration,” the Anorexic ideal is truly skeletal. Because a person must starve herself to reach this ideal, food is often seen as an enemy or temptation. Surrendering to this enemy is weakness and giving into this temptation is tantamount to sin, and so the person may fast or eat extremely little for very extended periods of time. Because sufferers train themselves see food as an enemy, Anorexia leads to a continuing difficult relationship with food.
In conclusion, the emotional and physical effects of Anorexia Nervosa are severe and longlasting. Damage to the heart and bones, as well as shrinkage of the grey matter of the brain may last throughout the entirety of a person’s life even if she recovers from her eating