Cheyenne Tuggle and Kayla Saldana
The University of Valley Forge
PSY 363
Cheyenne
Anorexia Nervosa: What is it? (Webster, 1989)
“A serious disorder in eating behavior 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.”
People with anorexia place a high value on controlling their weight and shape, using extreme efforts that tend to significantly interfere with activities in their lives.
Some people with anorexia binge and purge, similar to individuals who have bulimia nervosa. However, people with anorexia generally struggle with an abnormally low body weight, while individuals with bulimia typically are normal to above normal weight. No matter how weight loss is achieved, the person with anorexia has an intense fear of gaining weight.
Anorexia isn’t really about food. It’s an unhealthy way to try to cope with emotional problems. When you have anorexia, you often equate thinness with self-worth.
Onset is pre-teen – early adulthood.
Anorexia Nervosa: What is it? (Ekern, 2017)
Two types:
Binge/Purge Type
The individual suffering from this type of eating disorder, will purge when he or she eats. This is typically a result of the overwhelming feelings of guilt a sufferer would experience in relation to eating; they compensate by vomiting, abusing laxatives, or excessively exercising.
Restrictive Type
In this form, the individual will fiercely limit the quantity of food consumed, characteristically ingesting a minimal amount that is well below their body’s caloric needs, effectively slowly starving him or herself.
Though two classifications of anorexia nervosa exist, both types exhibit similar symptoms, such as irrational fear of weight gain and abnormal eating patterns.
Anorexia: Symptoms
Three Types: (Hall-Flavin, 2017)
Physical Symptoms
The physical signs and symptoms of anorexia nervosa are related to starvation, but the disorder also includes emotional and behavior issues related to an unrealistic perception of body weight and an extremely strong fear of gaining weight or becoming fat.
Emotional Symptoms
Depression, anxieties.
Behavioral Symptoms
Bingeing and self-induced vomiting to get rid of the food and may include use of laxatives, enemas, diet aids or herbal products.
Anorexia: Physical Symptoms (Hall-Flavin, 2017)
Extreme weight loss
Abnormal blood counts
Fatigue
Insomnia
Dizziness/fainting
Hair loss
Menstrual absence
Dry/yellow skin
Low blood pressure
Dehydration
Anorexia: Emotional Symptoms (Berger, 2016)
Fears gaining weight
Has an intense fear of gaining weight or becoming fat, even when underweight.
Distorted self-image
Has a body image that is very distorted, be very focused on body weight or shape, and refuse to admit the danger of weight loss.
Depression
Depression goes hand-in-hand with many mental disorders, even if it was never prominent in someone’s life previous to developing the disorder.
Worrying
Constant worry about weight and shape.
Hunger denial
They know that they’re starving but convincing themselves that they are not.
Flat mood
Lack of emotion/emotionless.
Thoughts of suicide
Anorexia: Behavioral Symptoms (Berger, 2016)
Limiting food intake/throwing up
Refuses to keep normal weight
Refuses to keep weight at what is considered normal for their age and height (15% or more below the normal weight).
Play with food
Cutting food into small pieces or moving them around the plate instead of eating.
Over exercise
Exercising all the time, even when the weather is bad, they are hurt, or their schedule is busy.
Will not eat in front of others
Take pills
Using pills to make themselves urinate (water pills, or diuretics), have a bowel movement (enemas and laxatives), or decrease their appetite (diet pills).
Lie about eating habits
They lie about how much food they ate or when the last time was.
Social withdraw
They lack the ability to want to be with others or enjoy even a night out.
Irritability
Very irritable towards everyone and anything.
Anorexia: Causes (Ekern, 2017)
Factors not causes
Causes of this disorder are still not exactly known, but there have been many factors that are found to contribute to anorexia.
Environmental Causes:
Media
The effects of the thinness culture in media, that constantly reinforce thin people as ideal stereotypes.
Promotional careers
Professions and careers that promote being thin and weight loss, such as ballet and modeling.
Traumas
Family and childhood traumas: childhood sexual abuse, severe trauma.
Peer pressure
Peer pressure among friends and co-workers to be thin or be sexy.
Biological Factors:
Irregular hormones
Types of imbalance of hormones.
Genetics
Genetics (the tie between anorexia and one’s genes is still being heavily researched, but we know that genetics is a part of the story).
Nutritional Deficiencies
Anorexia: Treatment (Berger, 2016)
The biggest challenge in treating anorexia nervosa is helping the person recognize that they have an illness. Most people with anorexia deny that they have an eating disorder. They often seek treatment only when their condition is serious.
Set Goals
Goals of treatment are to restore normal body weight and eating habits. A weight-gain of 1 to 3 pounds (lb) or 0.5 to 1.5 kilograms (kg) per week is considered a safe goal.
Treatment programs:
Hospital programs
Cognitive behavioral therapy
Group therapy
Family therapy
Medicines for side effects
Different programs have been designed to treat anorexia. These may include any of the following measures:
Increasing social activity
Reducing the amount of physical activity
Using schedules for eating
A longer hospital stay may be needed if:
The person has lost a lot of weight (being below 70% of their ideal body weight for their age and height). For severe and life-threatening malnutrition, the person may need to be fed through a vein or stomach tube.
Weight loss continues, even with treatment.
Medical complications, such as heart problems, confusion, or low potassium levels develop.
The person has severe depression or thinks about committing suicide.
Care providers who are usually involved in these programs include:
Nurse practitioners
Physicians
Physician assistants
Dietitians
Mental health care providers
Treatment is often very difficult. People and their families must work hard. Many therapies may be tried until the disorder is under control.
People may drop out of programs if they have unrealistic hopes of being “cured” with therapy alone.
Goal of therapy is to change person’s thoughts or behavior to encourage them to eat in a healthier way. This kind of therapy is more useful for treating younger people who have not had anorexia for a long time.
If the person is young, therapy may involve the whole family. The family is seen as a part of the solution, instead of the cause of the eating disorder.
Support groups may also be a part of treatment. In support groups, patients and families meet and share what they have been through. The stress of illness can be eased by joining a support group. Sharing with others who have common experiences and problems can help you not feel alone.
Medicines such as antidepressants, antipsychotics, and mood stabilizers may help some people when given as part of a complete treatment program. These medicines can help treat depression or anxiety. Although medicines may help, none has been proven to decrease the desire to lose weight.
Anorexia: Statistics (Cartwright, 2017)
Less than 0.1% of population
Anorexia is less common in adults over 18 than we think.
Women 15-19 yrs. = 0.9%
According to a study from Current Psychiatry Reports, when younger women (15-19 years of age) are included, the lifetime prevalence of anorexia increases to 0.9 percent of women in the population.
Men all ages = 0.3%
0.3 percent of men exhibit the disorder at some point in their lives, usually later in life than women do.
Anorexia tops eating disorder deaths
This results in a total of 1.2 percent of the population 15 and older that has anorexia at some point in life. This compares to a 1.6 percent total prevalence for bulimia, and 5.7 percent prevalence of BED.
Mortality rate decreased since 80’s
Despite its lower prevalence, anorexia has historically resulted in more deaths than bulimia or BED. However, the mortality rate from anorexia has been decreasing since the late 1980s; it is assumed that the reason for this is the improvement in medical and psychological treatments since that time.
Uncommonly treated
Only 1 in ten people are treated.
Anorexia: Shocking Statistics (Stewart, 2015)
42% of 1st-3rd grade girls want to be thinner
Influenced by media, toys and peers, the age which individuals are being diagnosed with eating disorders is getting younger and younger.
Anorexia Nervosa research is underfunded for
In 2011, eating disorders received only $.93 per affected individual for research. Other mental illnesses, such as Alzheimer’s averaged $88 per affected individual and Schizophrenia $81 per affected individual. Eating disorder research is extremely underfunded even though it has one of the highest mortality rates of any mental illness.
81% of 10 year olds are afraid of being fat
Especially in the New Year, we are bombarded from every direction to start a new diet, enroll at a gym or by ‘new year, new you’ campaigns. All of this leads to weight stigma and other heavy consequences.
Kayla
Mary- Kate Olsen (Olsensobsessive, n.d.)
Actress ; Twin
Mary- Kate ; her sister, Ashley, are very well known for their childhood roles in popular TV shows ; movies.
Public Figure
Ever since they were 9 months old, they have constantly been in the public’s eye through their TV shows, movies, and although they aren’t in the spotlight as much these days, they still have influence through their fashion line.
Mary- Kate Olsen ; Anorexia (Tauber, 2004)
Signs
Although she tried her best to hide it, everyone, especially her family, could tell that she was struggling with eating.
Two years prior, they began to notice that she looked different and began to develop dark circles under her eyes. (Tauber, 2004)
Prevention
Some ways that her family tried getting her to eat, was promising to get her a new car if she started to gain weight.
They hired someone to monitor her eating habits; sometimes they would take her out of school to eat; people at school would notice that she always had an adult with her whenever she ate.
Rehab
Cheyenne’s References
Berger, F. K. (2016, February 02). Anorexia. Retrieved November 09, 2017.
Cartwright, M. (2017, March). Anorexia Statistics & Facts. Retrieved November 11, 2017.
Course, C. (2014, October 06). Eating and Body Dysmorphic Disorders: Crash Course Psychology #33. Retrieved November 09, 2017.
Ekern, J. (2017, May 01). About Anorexia: Signs, Symptoms, Causes & Articles for Treatment Help. Retrieved November 10, 2017.
Garner, D. M., & Garfinkel, P. E. (1997). Handbook of treatment for eating disorders. New York: Guilford Press.
Hall-Flavin, D. K. (2017). Anorexia Nervosa.Anorexia. Retrieved November 09, 2017.
Stewart, W. (2015, February 04). Powerful Eating Disorder Statistics. Retrieved November 09, 2017.
Webster, M. (1989).The New Merriam-Webster dictionary. Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster Inc.
Kayla’s References
About Mary-Kate and Ashley. (n.d.). Retrieved November 12, 2017.
Garner, D. M., ; Garfinkel, P. E. (1997). Handbook of treatment for eating disorders. New York: Guilford Press.
Extreme. (2009, December 30). Skinny Celebrities: Mary-Kate Olsen. Retrieved November 11, 2017.
Koenig, K. R. (2008). What every therapist needs to know about treating eating and weight issues. New York: W.W. Norton.
Natenshon, A. (2009). Doing what works: an integrative system for the treatment of eating disorders from diagnosis to recovery. Washington, DC: NASW Press/National Association of Social Workers.
Tauber, M. (2004, July 5). Mary Kate’s Private Battle. Retrieved November 12, 2017.
Thompson, J. K. (2004). Handbook of eating disorders and obesity. Hoboken: J. Wiley & Sons.
Reading Report Form
To be eligible for an “A” the following additional requirements must be met:
Student must read 200+ pages of professional resource material
Group outline and class presentation must demonstrate exceptional content, comprehension, and integration of resource material
To be eligible for a “B” the following additional requirements must be met:
Student must read 150-199 pages of professional resource material
Group outline and class presentation must demonstrate very good content, comprehension, and integration of resource material
To be eligible for a “C” the following additional requirements must be met:
Student must read 125-149 pages of professional resource material
Group outline and class presentation must demonstrate good content, comprehension, and integration of resource material
For my class project, I have read __268__ pages of resource material.
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(Signature)
This pagemustbe completed and attached to your group outline.
Your gradecannotbe calculated without it.
Academic Honesty Contract
TheMerriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionarydefines plagiarism as stealing or passing off the ideas or words of another as if they were your own without crediting the source.
Plagiarism is aseriousoffense that carriesseriousconsequences. In addition to plagiarism, there are other forms of academic dishonesty that a student must avoid.For example:
Falsification or fabrication – misrepresenting facts or research, verbally or in writing, for the purpose of academic gain;
Double submissions of written work without the expressed consent of the professor(s);
Cheating on tests, papers or projects, including group work on papers or projects when not expressly approved by the professor;
Facilitating academic dishonesty – allowing another student to copy from you; giving your work to another student to use as a model, or to submit as his/her own; leaving your computer or work unguarded so that it is easily accessible to another student;
Any other intentional behavior designed for unearned academic gain on the part of a student.
Paraphrasing: The AUW Model
Ideas that are researched and usedmust beabsorbed,understood, andwritteninthe student’sown words.
Simplychanging a few wordsdoesnotmeet the standard for academic honesty.
Choosing When to Give Credit
Need to Document
No Need to Document
When you are using or referring tosomebody else’s words or ideas froma magazine, book, newspaper, song,TV program, movie, Web page,computer program, letter, advertisement, or any other medium
When you are writing your own experiences, your own observations, your own insights, your own thoughts, your own conclusions about a subject
When you use information gainedthrough interviewing another person
When you are using “common knowledge” folklore, common sense observations, shared information within your field of study or cultural group
When you copy the exact words or a”unique phrase” from somewhere
When you are compiling generally accepted facts
When you reprint any diagrams,illustrations, charts, and pictures
When you are writing up your own experimental results
When you use ideas that others havegiven you in conversations or overemail
When is information”Common Knowledge”?
You find the same information undocumented in at least five different sources
You think it is information your readers will already know
You think the person could easily find the information with general reference sources
Some Helpful Websites:
Luther Seminary:
http://www.luthersem.edu/training/2-plagiarism.asp
Vaughan Memorial Library, Acadia University:
http://library.acadiau.ca/tutorials/plagiarism/
I have read andunderstandthe various forms of academic dishonesty as outlined in this document. In developing my research paper/project, I agree toexercise academic integrity.
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(Signature)
This paper mustbe signed and attached to yourcompleted research project/paper.
PSY 363 Group Project ReviewDr. David Scolforo
Name of team member reviewed: __________________________
Scale variance: 1=poor 5=average 10=exceptional
Circle appropriate scores
Cooperation with team members
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Actively participated in the group project activities
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Overall attitude (e.g., while disagreeing wasnotdisagreeable)
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Helped the group stay focused
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Overall contribution
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What letter grade would you give this team member?
A+AA-B+BB-C+CC-DF
Other comments: _______________________________________________
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NOTE:This form must be completed foreveryteam member.Forms may be confidentially submitted.
