Anorexia Nervosa :: essays research papers

Self-Im be on Anerexia NervosaAnorexia nervosa is a potenti all(prenominal)y life-threatening take disorder characterized by a lack of self-esteem, an intense fear of becoming obese, and self-induced starvation collect to a distorted corpse image (Durham, 1991). Anorexia can occur after in life, but it is most common in girls between the ages of 14 and eighteen. According to the Center for Change, recent estimates suggest that 1% of Americans within this age range will, to some degree, develop anorexia and 10-20% will eventually die from colligate complications.I have experienced this deteriorating disease from a bystanders period of time of view. After making a pact with my friends to get physically primed(p) for the summer, the four of us exercised and dieted daily for nearly four months. I neer thought that this effort to become healthy (or just look hot in our bikinis) would have such dire consequences. While everyone ended this sodding(a) diet plan, one of my friends became obsessed with her trunk image and without our knowledge, gradually demonstrable the eating disorder anorexia nervosa. She went unnoticed for several months be bring on she masterfully disguised her eating habits by consuming large quantities of fruit, vegetables, and salads in our presence while on the QT fasting at home. Moreover, in spite of her attitude toward eating, she took an avid interest group in buying and preparing food for us. Looking back, I think that we were all anorexic to some degree. Personally, I was 16 years old, 57 and only weighed about 105 pounds. If I had lost a agree much pounds, I would have been 25% below my normal body lading, which would be enough to also diagnose me with anorexia nervosa (Shaw, 2002). The majority of people who fulfill from anorexia begin, as we did, with an innocent diet that gradually progressed to extreme and unhealthy exercising metric weight unit loss (Shaw, 2002). Unlike normal dieting which stops when the desired weight is reached, people who become anorexic atribute positive feelings to their ability to control their weight and become dangerously preoccupied with food and fear weight gain. look into suggests that stringent dieting can play a key part in triggering eating disorders. Adolescent and young adult women are more vulnerable to these disorders due to their tendency to go on strict diets in order to achieve an ideal figure (Lehrman, 1987). Even thought the cause of anorexia nervosa is not known several different studies suggest that social attitudes toward body appearance, family influences, genetics, and developmental factors are possible contributors to anorexia (Selzman, 1999).