Anorexia Nervosa Kaylee Glenn

What is Anorexia Nervosa? Anorexia is an eating disorder where the appropriate calorie intake is not consumed. This is usually do to a fear of being fat and/or gaining weight (even when they are underweight) and it leads to unhealthy weight loss.

Who is more at risk?Someone who is a perfectionistis feeling increased concern about their weight/shapeare undergoing a stressful life changehas a negative self-imagehad eating/digestive problems as a child

*It is more commonly seen in Caucasian women beginning in adolescence.

What are common symptoms?Having an intense fear of becoming fat(Females) Stopping of menstruation for 3+ monthsDepressionDry MouthExtreme sensitivity to coldLoss of bone strengthLoss of body fatWasting away of muscle

TreatmentThere are 3 main steps in treatment:Getting back to a healthy weightStarting to eat more foodChanging how you think about yourself and food

TreatmentWho are you likely to see?Medical doctorPsychologistCounselorsDieticians

What are the expected costs?According to South Caroline Department of Mental Health, it can cost up to $100,000 for treatment

Case StudyAmys StoryHi, my name is Amy and I started having eating problems at the time of 5th grade. I was young, pretty, and very tall for my age so I was use to being around smaller kids who weighed less than me. Anorexia never hit me until 8th grade. I started out not eating breakfast and forgetting my lunch on purpose. This made my friends worried. They asked me why I was doing this, and I would simply respond "I'm not fast enough at basketball, and I'm not the best at soccer." They didn't understand, since I had always been a few pounds underweight. During that same summer I was down to 105 pounds and 5"8. I wasn't doing very well, so I sought help. It never really hit me about what I was doing to myself until I went to camp and I got sick. Since then I continued counseling and overcame anorexia.

Case StudyKaties Story I remember after one dance class my teacher called me over to speak privately with me, to tell me that I needed to lose weight if I was ever to become a professional ballerina. I was 7 at the time, and yet I have carried those words close to me for 12 years now. This time last year I had lost 20% of my body weight and I had not had my period in over a year, but it wasn't good enough. I would set deadlines for myself, like "I just need to be thin until prom, or senior week, then I'll let myself eat normally again." But every time I would continue on, narrowing my food options so that certain foods were actually evil to me. Eating candy and fat wasn't even an option to me, but I remember people constantly asking, "why can't you just eat it?" One particular night, my parents gave me a dreaded Ensure to drink because I had not eaten all day. I sat in front of them at the dinner table holding the drink sobbing because I could not physically bring myself to drink it. The more they encouraged me to eat, the more I refused. I'm recovering now after hospitalization, but it is still a struggle everyday.

SourcesMerrill, D. B., & Zieve, D. National Center for Biotechnology, PubMed Health . (2011). Eating disorder - anorexia Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001401/#adam_000362.disease.treatment

Smith, M, & Kovatch, S. (2011, Januray). Anorexia nervosa. Retrieved from http://www.helpguide.org/mental/anorexia_signs_symptoms_causes_treatment.htm