What is Anorexia Nervosa and How Do I Overcome It?

Anorexia Nervosa (AN) is one of the most common chronic illnesses among adolescents in the U.S. Anorexia doesn’t only impact the individual who is living with the disorder, but also friends and family members too. Although more common in adolescent females, anorexia nervosa isn’t restricted by age or gender and can impact males as well.

What is Anorexia Nervosa?

Anorexia nervosa is a form of eating disorder. Before someone can be diagnosed, the following criteria must be present.

Restricting food

A person who has anorexia will make choices to restrict their food consumption. This results in decreased body weight which can lead to severe health issues. Age, height, and gender are used to determine if someone has a below average body weight. Some adolescents might not experience weight loss necessarily, but instead, not make the average weight gains.

Normally, someone with anorexia has a serious fear of adding any weight to their body. As a result of this fear, this person might decide to go to extreme measures to prevent weight gain like laxative use, purging food or excessive exercise at the gym.

A person with anorexia frequently has a distorted perception of themselves. Outsiders may see unhealthy weight loss, but for the one living with anorexia, they see any loose skin on their body as a problem. Their fixation on weight or self-image has skewed their reality.

Anorexia Nervosa usually falls under two categories: restricting or binging/purging. Binge-eating is when someone consumes often excessive amounts of food and then vomits the food back up after eating. Often people with anorexia will meet all the criteria except for weight loss.

It’s important that a person is diagnosed with the correct feeding or eating disorder. It’s common for people who are diagnosed with anorexia nervosa to also battle anxiety disorder, OCD, depression or even substance abuse. Anorexia Nervosa is complex and it’s important to address the root of these issues with a professional therapist and medical provider.

Medical Complications

Because people with Anorexia Nervosa rob their bodies of proper nutrients, it can have life-threatening consequences if left untreated. Women who restrict their eating habits can lose hair due to lack of nutrients, muscles can degenerate and the weight loss can disrupt their menstrual cycles. Rapid weight loss can cause liver problems or gallstones.

For those that purge after going through a binge episode, the teeth can erode from the constant presence of stomach acid. Laxative use can cause serious complications with bowel activity. This is just a short summary or medical complications that can exist with anorexia. There are many health problems not mentioned that are likely.

Risk Factors for Anorexia Nervosa

You may have asked yourself before, “How does someone develop anorexia?” It’s hard to pinpoint just one, singular reason. There are many factors that contribute to developing anorexia nervosa. There are certain risk factors that often lead to anorexia nervosa. Let’s walk through the risk factors that are often associated with anorexia.

1. Environment/Cultural Factors

Media portrays a negative and unrealistic view of body image. This has infiltrated and influenced culture in dramatic ways. Social media channels and websites exist that promote anorexia behaviors. It’s still unknown why some people develop anorexia and others do not, but there are some educated hypotheses surrounding this.

When an ideal body size is perpetuated in a society, this causes increased dissatisfaction for those that don’t fit the body image standard. If your culture is telling you to be tan and thin and you feel pale and overweight this can trigger negative emotions directed at your body. You may become obsessed with a certain number on the scale, your caloric intake or going to the gym repetitively.

Specific activities like modeling, dance and gymnastics have been associated with anorexia. These activities are known to encourage being thin and sticking to a regimented diet which can create an unhealthy relationship with food. Although not talked about frequently, bullying can also lead to anorexia nervosa, especially for teenagers.

2. Trauma and Other Stressors

If you’ve been through a breakup, or know someone who has, it’s not unheard of for that person to lose significant weight after the relationship ends. This person normally loses their desire to eat. If left unattended, trauma can turn into anorexia nervosa. Emotional, physical and sexual abuse and eating disorders are connected.

For someone who has been sexually abused, they might overeat or restrict eating to make their body undesirable or to wrongly punish their body for the assault. However, any life stressor or traumatic life event can influence anorexia. If you moved to a new school and experience anxiety this can lead to anorexic behaviors.

3. Psychological Factors

There are psychological factors that are more prevalent associated with anorexia nervosa. Perfectionism is one trait that can cause restrictive eating habits. If someone has a desire to be a perfect weight or size, this can fuel anorexia. Obsessive Compulsive Disorder can be seen when someone obsessively plans meals or counts calories repeatedly.

Of course, negative self-worth and difficulty navigating emotions are frequent in those with eating disorders. A person with an eating disorder might isolate themselves out of fear of interaction in situations that involve food. This isolation may add to the feelings of low self-esteem or the inability to manage emotions.
 
4. Biological/Genetic Factors

Genetic factors are linked to many disorders, including anorexia nervosa. If your mother or grandmother struggled with anorexia, there is a higher chance of you being diagnosed with an eating disorder. It’s wise to be aware of the people in your immediate family who can identify with anorexia nervosa. Researchers believe that predisposed genes are triggered by risk factors, but the link to genetics is still being

5. Family Factors

Family factors can influence eating disorders. These are often harder to identify because the family influence has occurred over the years and embedded. Over the years, a mother may have repeatedly told her daughter she’s fat or needed to lose weight. She may have focused on her daughter’s food choices and punished her for eating foods she didn’t approve.

On the opposite spectrum, a family member may refuse to acknowledge that their daughter has an eating disorder. The eating disorder is maintained without any interjection from the family. This is one-way eating disorders could go untreated and accepted in the family. It’s critical to explore how family factors may have influenced anorexia nervosa. It isn’t guaranteed that the family plays a role in setting the foundation of anorexia nervosa, but the family impact should be discussed.

6. Dieting

Dieting is often connected to the development of anorexia nervosa. This could include restrictive dieting, compulsive eating or skipping meals. When the body is starved of food it responds by reducing the rate at which it burns energy which can cause health complications and greater weight gain when regular eating is resumed.

Yo-yo dieting is a dangerous method for weight loss. If you struggle with anorexia nervosa it’s recommended to stay away from strict diets. Some people have the risk factors above and never go on to develop anorexia nervosa.

Suicide and Anorexia Nervosa

Those who struggle with anorexia nervosa have an increased risk of suicide. Some studies have shown that suicide is the most common cause of death in people diagnosed with anorexia nervosa. If you are experiencing suicidal, it is critical to seek professional support immediately. Suicidal thoughts should be taken seriously and not ignored or minimized. Your health, including your mental health, is important to recovery.

Treatment for Anorexia Nervosa

Anorexia Nervosa can develop from many different factors and have dangerous consequences on one’s life. If you are struggling with an eating disorder, it’s important to take a bold step and request professional help for treatment of your eating disorders.

To treat eating disorders a variety of professionals should be involved including doctors, dietitians, therapists, and psychiatrists. Most importantly, these professionals should all be trained in working with people with eating disorders.

They will be able to determine the level or treatment that needs to be involved in your recovery. Not every person with an eating disorder will require the same treatment plan. Treatment plans include outpatient, intensive outpatient, partial hospitalization program, residential treatment, and inpatient hospitalization. The team of professionals will be able to identify which treatment plans is needed based on an evaluation of the medical condition and eating disorder behaviors.

Therapy options also exist to help those with anorexia nervosa. Therapy that might be incorporated into a treatment plan is family therapy, dialectical behavioral therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, acceptance and commitment therapy, psychodynamic therapy, eye movement desensitization and reprocessing, and interpersonal psychotherapy. You will work with your therapist to identify the best methods for your goals and specific situation.

Help is available to you! You are able to conquer your eating disorder. Your recovery is important and it can start today. Take the courageous step forward and contact us for an initial assessment. Life change is possible if you allow others to walk alongside you in this journey.