Living with Anorexia Nervosa
...he said she just needed to taste it and she would be all right. Anorexics are not repelled by food; in fact their minds are often dominated by thoughts of food. They are so consumed with the thought of food that they actually perform strange rituals. They may prepare enormous amounts of food and push it on others. Not eating any of the food itself, but watching extensively while everyone else eats the food. They will not let anyone leave until all the food is gone. In the case of one family the parents did not want to admit that their daughter had a disorder. They were forced to see that there was a problem when they were beginning to gain weight. This was because of the food that was forced upon them by their daughter. The parents sought help for her to stop the imbalance that she was causing in the family atmosphere, and to also help her (Bruch, 8). There are many factors that contribute to a person who develops Anorexia Nervosa. Personality traits such as low self-esteem and helplessness may sway someone to develop Anorexia to have some control in their life. Family life can hinder this low self-esteem by ridicule and remarks about how the person looks. A small remark about weight is all it takes to throw a person into an eating disorder (Vitousek & Manke, 141). If a parent has high standards and the child feels they cannot fulfill their expectations, they can use the controlling of their weight to make their lives feel stable. Weight is the one thing that they can oversee and control (Bruch, 110). Other factors that can also present a problem are sports, as I have mentioned before, or a trauma, such as rape or a death in the family. Untreated Anorexia Nervosa can lay waste to the body. “Physical problems associated with eating disorders include, anemia, palpitations, hair and bone loss, tooth decay, esophagitis and the cessation of menstruation” (Brownell, Hotelling, Lowe, & Rayfield, 1). Without treatment a person with Anorexia can even die. It is very important for that person to obtain help before the disorder becomes too severe. There are many cases where family and friends do not even notice a problem until it is in its severity. This is because the weight may be lost gradually, or they are not eating in front of others and hiding their food. There are signs to look for in a person you suspect of Anorexia. They come in physical signs, such as, intolerance of cold due to the loss of fat, dizziness and fainting spells, dry skin, loss of muscle, and the most obvious, a weight loss of about fifteen percent. There are also behavioral changes including restricted food intake, odd food rituals, hyperactivity, dressing in layers, and regular weighing (Bruch, 7). Many support groups and associations are helping the fight against Anorexia and other eating disorders. The Anorexia Bulimia Nervosa Association (ABNA) and the National Association for Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders (ANAD) are major organizations in the fight against these disorders. These groups are paving the way for research and new and better treatments. They also help in providing family counseling and psychotherapy. Treatment for Anorexia Nervosa usually consists of nutritional therapy, individual psychotherapy, and family counseling. A team made up of pediatricians, psychiatrists, and social workers administers treatment. Some physicians hospitalize Anorexia patients until they are nutritionally stable, while others prefer to work with patients in a more safe and secure family setting. The most urgent concern of the physician is getting the patient to eat and gain weight; this is accomplished by gradually adding calories to the patient’s daily intake. When hospitalized, privileges are sometimes granted as a reward in return for gaining weight. Individual psychotherapy is also necessary in the treatment of anorexia to help the patient understand the disease process and its effects. Therapy focuses on the patient’s relationships with her family, friends, and the reasons she may have fallen into the trap of Anorexia. As a patient learns more about their condition, they are more often willing to try to help themselves recover. In treating Anorexia Nervosa, it is extremely important to remember that immediate success does not guarantee a permanent cure. Many times, even after successful hospital treatment and return to normal weight, patients suffer relapses. Follow-up therapy lasting three to five years is recommended if the patient is to be successfully treated (Wilson, 564-572). My personal experience was one whole day spent inside the head of a person with Anorexia Nervosa. I put myself in the mind, body, and experience of the disorder. I found out what it was like to live with this form of psychopathology, and tried to make sense of it. Spending this day with Anorexia Nervosa was based on the criteria for this disorder. The main criteria for Anorexia Nervosa is the refusal to maintain body weight over a minimal normal weight for age and height. There is an intense fear of gaining weight or becoming fat even though underweight. When a person may feel that the way their shape, weight, or size, is experienced, and in females, the absence of at least three menstrual cycles. Pertaining to Anorexia Nervosa a main criterion is an intense fear of gaining weight or becoming fat, even though underweight. Since I am not underweight I just focused on the point of the intense fear of gaining weight. For the whole day I would think about how fat I was. I focused on my lower body structure because they usually do focus on one part of the body. I repeated the phrase I am fat, over and over in my head, and occasionally saying it out loud to other people. This was very disturbing; I cannot begin to think of how it is to be like this everyday. In one day I began to believe what was being repeated in my mind, you can actually convince yourself of the lie. It caused me great anxiety to think about how I looked all the time and if I was gaining weight. Another aspect of Anorexia Nervosa is excessive exercise. To put myself in their shoes I decid...