anorexia
...ight, it's an attempt to use these to cope with emotional problems. Treatment may involve more than changing a person's perception of food, as those with anorexia often suffer from low self-esteem, anxiety, depression and a need to the need to control their emotions and surrounding, as well as low self-esteem. Anorexia Nervosa: More than Simple Starvation Stepping on the scale each morning to see if I had somehow gained weight overnight. Meticulously calculating ever last calorie and fat gram. Allowing myself half a cup of dry bran cereal before skating for six hours. (Who cares if I don't have any energy... this is for burning calories, not skill advancement.) Throwing up or frantically engaging in compulsive exercise if I made the mistake of eating something not "safe." Seeing an obese person in the mirror, despite visible ribs and people around me voicing concern about my weight loss, thinking all the time, "I don't see it." Such is the way of life... if you are living with anorexia. Clinical definition Anorexia nervosa is characterized by dramatic weight loss and/or restricted food intake coupled with a great disturbance in body image. The DSM-IV suggests that a person be at least 15% below their normal expected body weight (factoring in age, height, and body frame), but that is only a guideline. In women, the DSM-IV criteria also requires amenorrhea, or cessation of the menstrual cycle, for ...