Eating Disorders Anorexia Nervosa - 1724 Words

Eating disorders are characterized by a high preoccupation with weight and an intense dissatisfaction with one’s body image (Institute of Psychiatry, 2015). Some of the most common Eating Disorders (EDs) include Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia, and Binge Eating Disorder, however it is important to note that not everyone fits neatly into any of these categories and could display symptoms and behaviors interchangeably. People who suffer from Anorexia Nervosa can be characterized as having very low body weight and being involved in various weight loss activities including being highly food-restrictive and possibly over-exercising (Mascolo et al., 2012). Anorexia also has the highest mortality rate among all the mental illnesses, which includes†¦show more content†¦Victims of EDs show low levels of self-esteem, high feelings of shame due to social stigmas as well as the behaviors themselves, and depression, or denial. All of these could explain why many people who suffer from EDs keep their problems a secret from family and friends, therefore increasing the severity of the effects of the disorders. It is also rather difficult to diagnose someone with an ED because most of the symptoms can be mistaken for other diseases (Chelvanayagam Newell, 2015). Eating disorders have been linked to other serious disorders such as anxiety, depression, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), and social phobias. Commonalities in symptoms of EDs have been liked to other serious illnesses such as ADHD, Asperger’s, bipolar disorder, distortion of sense of self, and schizophrenia (Hausswolff-Juhlin et al., 2015). The neurobiology of eating relies on two brain functions: the homeostatic system allows us to know when the body needs an intake of food by letting it know that it’s hungry and when it is full (ghrelin and other peptides are included in this mechanism) when the body has been deprived of needed nutrients it gets an intense urge to get them, which can explain binge-eating and causes a chemical imbalance in the brain. The other is a hedonic mechanism that allows us to crave food and feel pleasure when eating and is impacted by our previous experiences of food and