Eating Disorders Flashcards
Eating Disorders in DSM-5: As a theme
Involve restrictive or excessive eating, issues of control and other underlying psychological processes, and can result in very serious medical consequences, including hospitalization or death
Eating Disorders
Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa, and Binge Eating Disorder
The most common eating diagnosis
“Other Specified Eating Disorder” since 1) disordered eating can take many forms and 2) patterns can change over time
Anorexia Nervosa: Defining Characteristics
Extreme weight loss and thinness, seriously under “expected” body weight (Women may show amenorrhea as a sign of this, Many lack insight into how serious the problem is); Fueled by intense fear of obesity or fear of losing control over eating; Body image disturbance underlies this relentless pursuit of thinness, which often begins with “normal” dieting
Anorexia Nervosa really stands for…
“Nervous loss of appetite” Refusal to eat or intake calories
Amenorrhea
Menstrual Cycle stops
Intense fear of obesity or fear of losing control over eating is similar to…
The fear seen in phobias but with food
3 main distinctions of Anorexia Nervosa
1) Severally low body weight, 2) Denial of problem, 3) Significant amount of fear
Anorexia Nervosa Subtypes
Restricting subtype, Binge-eating/purging subtype; 50/50 btw the two
(We’ll discuss how this differs from bulimia shortly…)
Restricting Subtype
Drastically limit caloric intake via dieting and fasting (Not eating as much as normally would or should
Binge-eating/purging Subtype
Involves binging on food and then purging it
Purging
Get rid of food ingestion somehow (Diuretics, Laxatives, Throwing up) Self induced
To determine if one has Anorexia Nervosa…
Consider last 3 months. If person has binged/purged in that time, it’s that subtype. If not, it’s restricting.
Anorexia: Facts and Statistics
Mortality rate is 6x general population due to starvation, suicide, and sometimes substance use problems (Other serious medical complications occur as well); 10% with anorexia are male (and prevalence is higher in gay males); Many show OCD tendencies (and BDD specifically); Usually develops in teenage years; More chronic, serious, and resistant to treatment than bulimia
Why are the 10% of males with anorexia predominantly gay males?
Because gay men focus on body image more often
BDD shown in Anorexia
Body Dysmorphic Disorder; Imagine self as hideous
Anorexia is more…
Chronic, serious, and resistant to treatment than bulimia