Anorexia Nervosa SelfStarvation Essay Research Paper Anorexia

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Anorexia Nervosa: Self-Starvation Essay, Research Paper Anorexia nervosa is a life threatening eating disorder defined by a refusal to maintain fifteen percent of a normal body weight through self-starvation (NAMI 1). Ninety-five percent of anorexics are women between the ages of twelve and eighteen, however, ??in the past twenty years, this disorder has become a growing threat to high school and college students?(Maloney and Kranz 60). Anorexia produces a multitude of symptoms, and if not treated, anorexia can lead to permanent physical damage or death. Anorexic behavior is complex because it is all about the need for control. Someone suffering from anorexia has a distorted body image of himself or herself. He/she believes to be overweight, even though twenty percent of the

time he/she is not (Yancey 59). The image of being overweight causes a low self-esteem. Symptoms of low self-esteem are loneliness, inadequacy in talents, a lack of trust in people and themselves, insecurity, identification with a specific peer group, and sadness. The media displays the ideal human body as thin and beautiful. Anorexic?s lives are full of confusion and lack of control. To the anorexic, to be thin is to be in control. The state of control to the anorexic is the ideal life without confusion and difficulties. In most cases, the anorexic is intelligent; popular among his/her peers, athletic, talented, and viewed as a role model to most people he/she comes in contact with. In reality, the issues in daily living are too difficult for the anorexic resulting in a lack of

control in his/her life. The anorexic?s answer to a confusing life is to starve the body. The behavioral symptoms of the anorexia are counting calories, eating little food, baking treats for everyone and giving them away in hope of controlling not only the anorexic?s intake of his/her food, but also others. ?Playing? with food at meal times is common behavior of the anorexic. When the meal is complete, the anorexic has disguised food intake by pushing the food around on the plate and hiding food in napkins. To dress in layers to hide the distinct weight loss and to avoid social activities where eating is involved are common behavioral symptoms. Behavioral symptoms of the anorexic can go unnoticed by most people. These symptoms are very secretive and oblivious to outsiders because

the behavior is not out of the ordinary. Although the behavioral symptoms of the anorexic appear to be ordinary, the sum of the behaviors is dangerous because it leads to physical and psychological symptoms that are life threatening. Severe symptoms of anorexia are classified as such because they result in devastating physical side effects and death. The dropping of body fat due to self-starvation can cause amenorrhea, an absence of the menstrual cycle. Amenorrhea can put stress on tiny bones that result in breakage if untreated and can interfere with fertility as well as estrogen, the reproductive hormone that protects the body against heart diseases and osteoporosis. The absence of the menstrual cycle from starvation can cause loss of bone density. Osteomalacia, the outcome of

poor nutrition in anorexia, causes breakage of bones, and the lack of calcium intake to the body results in brittle bones. Kidneys will shut down if the body weight becomes low enough. The anorexic will go into kidney failure and die. Kidney failure is also caused by dehydration because inadequate fluid flowing to the kidneys can lead to cardiac arrhythmia. A normal heartbeat is also essential to the human body. A change in the normal pattern of the heartbeat may be a complication of an electrolyte imbalance produced from anorexia. The principal reason for potassium loss and an irregular heartbeat is an electrolyte imbalance. As a result of potassium deficiency, it is common to have muscle spasms, muscle atrophy, and pain. Muscle spasms and muscle atrophy are typical symptoms of