Lecture 15: Eating Disorders Flashcards
Feminists Theories of Eating Disorders (2)
- External etiology of eating disorders
- Internal etiology of eating disorders
The external etiology of eating disorders:
Some feminist theories argue that promotion of cultural attitudes celebrate thinness is a form of patriarchal social control over women.
Socializing women to suppress the desire to eat is socializing them to express their desires more generally especially sexual desires.
Internal etiology of eating disorders
Some feminist theorists argue that extremes in weight in particular can be understood as an attempt to dissociate oneself from feminine ideals (often in response to sexual trauma), in an unconscious effort to prevent further sexual trauma
Evolutionary Hypotheses of Anorexia (2)
- Developed from intrasexual competition among women for high value mates
- Two symptoms of anorexia (restricted eating and increased activity) might be evolved adaptations to food shortages in ancestral environments
How can restricted eating and increased activity be evolved adaptions in ancestral environments?
- Restricted eating - can lead to less intragroup competition for resources
- Increased activity - may lead to intensified foraging or initiate migration
Evidence supporting the evolutionary hypothesis (2)
- Non-human animals (rats/pigs) will demonstrate anorexia like symptoms under food shortages
- People who were most recently migratory have highest rates of anorexia (native Americans)
Who were the most recently migratory in the US?
Native Americans
Anorexia like behaviors have been recorded for ______ (time frame) but was motivated by the desire to be ________ or _____ rather than the desire to be ____
Centuries
Enlightened
Holy
Thin
Bulimia-like behaviors have been recorded since _____ _____ but it was motivated by _______ rather than the desire to be ____
Ancient time
Hedonism
Thin
Anorexia was recognized as a medical disorder in the late 19th century true or false
TRUE!
Initially eating disorders were thought to be more frequent among what people? (2)
- White people
- People with a higher SES
African Americans have cultural attitudes about body size that endorse a ______ ____ of sizes as desirable
Wider range
Some studies have found that African American girls/women are less ________ with their body size than European Americans while other studies have failed to replicate this result
dissatisfied
Risk for eating disorders is on the ______ among African Americans
RISE
What’s an explanation for the rise in eating disorder among African Americans
There is an increasing assimilation of European American body ideals
For Mexican American mothers and daughters (who are more assimilated to European American cultures) the daughters tended to what?
Express attitudes about body size that value thinness more
Initially it was believed that eating disorders in non-western cultures was comparatively _____ for example in countries like ______, ________
RARE
Malaysia, Singapore
In Hong Kong and India, restricted eating is often motivated by what reasons over the desire to be thin? (2)
- Religious
- Nutritional
Some have argues that ______ __ _____ _____ should not be a criterion to diagnose anorexia since it’s not a universal feature of anorexic behavior
Fear of weight gain
A study from South Africa found that ______ college students were more likely to have eating disorders compared to ____ and _____ college students.
Black
White
Asian
As countries modernize rates of eating disorders increase or decrease
Increase
Why might modernization increase rates of eating disorders (2)
- Traditional societies had protective factors modern ones lack
- Modern societies have risk factors that weren’t present in the past
Modernization brings with it greater social competition because (3)
Modern cultures are:
1. Less egalitarian than traditional cultures
2. Have Larger pools of competition
3. Emphasize achievement more than traditional ones
Who is more likely to experience anorexia by 10 times between men and women?
Women
When is the typical onset for anorexia?
Adolescence or adulthood
Often the onset of anorexia is triggered by _______ or a ______ ____ _____
Trauma or stressful life event
Risk factors of anorexia include (5)
- Being a women
- Living in a culture where thinness is valued
- Living in an industrialized culture
- Having an occupation where thinness is valued eg. Model/actor/atheles
- Some genetic traits (concordance of MZ > DZ)
Common features associated with anorexia (7)
- Poor self esteem
- Poor insight
- Chronic self-monitoring
- OCD symptoms
- Medical risks
- Risk of death
- Body image distortion
For people with anorexia self-esteem is strongly linked to ______ . Weight loss is often viewed as a ____ _______ of self control, whereas weight gain is viewed as a _______ ________ of self control. Many people with anorexia are __________ eating in front of others
Weight
Major achievement
Major failure
Uncomfortable
Many people lack insight into the ________ nature of their disorder. _____ _______ is common among people with anorexia.
Maladaptive
Inflexible thinking
People with anorexia frequently monitor their weight by (3)
- Weighing themselves
- Measure their body parts
- Mirror checking
Some people with anorexia feel overweight ______ while others feel that only ______ body parts are overweight. The intense fear of ______ _______ is not alleviated by weight loss.
Globally
Specific body parts
Gaining weight
Many people with anorexia have obsessions about _______
Food eg. Obsessive mental imagery
Many people with anorexia have accompanying compulsions related to _______
Food eg. Compulsive calorie counting
Anorexia is a process of ____-_____ _____-______
Self maintained semi starvation
When people starve they usually experience acute _______
Autophagy (Self-digestion)
Acute Autophagy carries medical risks eg. (8)
- Organ shrinkage
- Bone density loss
- Impaired kidney function
- Impaired thermoregulation
- Impaired immune function
- Impaired Endocrine function
- Cognitive impairment
- Depression
Death from anorexia is usually caused by (2)
- The disorder itself
- Suicide
People with anorexia have an underactive ______ system for food-related stimuli
Reward
Reward/approach system is mediated by the _____ _____ ________. The _______ _______ _____ connects 2 things together namely
Mesolimbic dopamine pathway
1) The VTA in the midbrain
2. Nucleus accumbens in the limbic system
For people with anorexia the MDP is ______ for food-related stimuli
Underactive
People with anorexia have what kind of reward sensitivity
Low reward sensitivity
Reward sensitivity
Differences between individuals related to the tendency to detect approach, derive pleasure from, and learn from rewards
People with anorexia have a overactive _____ system for food and weight-related stimuli
Overactive
The threat/avoidance systems are mediated by (3)
- The amygdala
- The ventral hippocampus
- The prefrontal cortex
For people with anorexia the amygdala and ventral hippocampus are ________ for food and weight-related stimuli
Overactive
For people with anxiety, PTSD, or anorexia, an overactive threat system contributes to (3)
- Avoidance behavior
- Behavior inhibition
- Heightened loss aversion
People with anorexia have what kind of punishment sensitivity
High punishment sensitivity
Punishment sensitivity
Differences between individuals related to the tendency to detect, avoid, experience pain from, and learn from punishments
People with anorexia have high punishment sensitivity which gets expressed in ______ ______ eg. ________ And other _______ eg. _________
Eating behavior eg. Reactions to gaining weight and other behavior eg. Perfectionism
Overarching Neurobiology things to remember about anorexia (3)
- Underactive reward system for food related stimuli
- Overactive threat system for food and weight-related stimuli
- Dysregulated insula
What’s the insula?
It’s part of the cortex that interconnects many different brain regions to perform a variety of functions
The insula is part of the cortex that interconnects many different brain regions to perform a variety of functions including (4)
- Balancing the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems
- Regulation of appetite and eating
- Mediates disgust within the insula itself
- Monitors the body state through connection of the frontal cortex to the somatosensory cortex
People with anorexia tend to have an ________ parasympathetic activity compared to people without
Increased
People with anorexia have _____-_____ of appetite and eating behavior
Down-regulation
People with anorexia commonly reported _____-_____ (a feeling) triggered by weight gain
Self-disgust
People with anorexia have _______ somatosensory processing
Unrealistic
Goals of treats for anorexia include (4)
- Weight restoration
- Repair of self-esteem
- Promotion of more realistic body image
- Trauma-informed therapy
Have pharmacological treatments proven effective
NOPE
Many people with binge eating disorder experience _______ during episodes of binge eating
Dissociation
Dissociation
A disturbance to the basic mental processes that control adaptive actions
What can dissociation result in
- Detachment
- Compartmentalization
Detachment
Failure of usual coactivation of two different mental processes eg. Cognition and emotion
Many people with binge eating disorder have motor processing in the absence of ______ _____ and/or ________ _________
Executive functioning and/or conscious awareness
A common consequence of binge eating disorder is ______
Obesity
Who is more likely to develop bullimia between men and women
Women
When does bulimia nervosa onset?
Typically adolescence, rarely in childhood/older age
The course of bulimia nervosa may be _____ or _____
Chronic or intermittent
What are potential treatments for binge eating and bulimia (4)
- CBT
- Exposure/response prevention
- Interpersonal therapy
- Evidence of effectiveness of pharmacological treatments is mixed
