In a 3-page paper, written in APA format using proper spelling/grammar, research the topic of eating disorders and address the following:

Compare and contrast anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa.

Who is more likely to suffer from anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa? Why?

What are the causes contributing to anorexia nervosa?

What are the consequences of eating disorders?

How can one diagnose eating disorders?

What are the treatment and support options for a person who has eating disorders?
Be sure to include APA citations for any resources you used as references.

Eating Disorders

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Eating Disorders

Eating disorders are severe and fatal illnesses associated with adverse disturbances in a person’s eating behaviors related to cognitive aspects such as thoughts and emotions. These disruptions have a severe impact on one’s health and wellbeing. Common eating disorders include anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa, whereby patients display similar symptoms but have different food-related behaviors (Mehler, 2017). Anorexia patients suffer from severe body image distortion, incline to low weight, and have mangled perceptions of body weight and shape. These result in extreme anxiety and emotional trauma that instigates intense fear of weight gaining. Bulimia patients develop unhealthy eating sequences of binge eating, panic, and anxiety on the increased weight, and lastly, exercising arduous behaviors to prevent more weight gain (Christiansen, 2020).

The similarity noted in both eating disorders is that they are related to unhealthy food behaviors. A notable difference is that anorexia patients are inclined to low body weight while bulimia patients binge eat, and due to guilt, they begin trimming the weight in unhealthy ways. Women and adolescent girls form the highest percentage of people likely to suffer from anorexia and bulimia compared to men. This is mainly due to body image distortion and disturbance perceptions (Christiansen, 2020). Through a prominent westernized culture of thin bodies, women suffer more from pressures, trying to maintain low body weight and more lightweight shapes.

Eating disorders are multi-determined, meaning they are caused by multiple factors and determinants, which is similar to anorexia nervosa. Anorexia is caused by individual, biological, sociocultural, family, and cognitive factors. Socio-culturally, body image pressures communicated through media and borrowed from the western culture on ideal beauty and body standards may result in anorexia to maintain the thin, perfect body. Moreover, perceptions of professions such as modeling, ballet dancing, and peer pressure among friends and colleagues may promote extreme weight loss and thinness (Mayo, 2020). Biologically, genetics, and family history of psychiatrist or eating disorders highly contribute to the development of anorexia among individuals. Individual aspects include body image dissatisfactions, psychiatrist disorders, and a dire need for approval or validation. Impaired identities and self-concepts may result in a lack of self-clarity and development of anorexia. The family may cause anorexia nervosa through family cultures that support substance use and have weight-related issues. Moreover, parent-child interactions that display excessive control and perfectionist, as well as lack of family cohesiveness, highly contribute to the development and maintenance of anorexia (Mayo, 2020). Children born in controlling and perfectionist families may result in unhealthy eating habits due to anxiety and fear of failure trying to impress and seek approval from their parents.

Eating disorders severely affect the general health and wellbeing of an individual. Effects related to eating disorders include health-related, psychological, and socio-economic consequences. Patients of eating disorders experience rapid weight loss and gain all associated with health risks such as obesity and chronic diseases. Since eating disorders are related to psychological disorders, patients may experience depression chronicity exacerbated or developed by eating disorders that may result in an altered mental state (Mehler, 2017). These consequences, in addition to the presence of dual diagnosis, affect patients’ overall health and wellbeing, which may be fatal if not treated or addressed. Patients displaying eating disorders symptoms withdraw from family, friends, and society, hence affecting social interaction and physical activities, which are risk health factors.

Diagnosing and treating eating disorders should be comprehensive and all-inclusive as casual factors are multi-determined. Hence, the diagnosis of eating disorders is based on signs, eating habits, and symptoms displayed by an individual. Physicians accordingly conduct physical exams, tests, and integrate psychological evaluations on patients. Physical exams include laboratory tests to determine the exact causes of eating disorders biologically and rule out other potential medical causes (Mehler, 2017). These tests align with biological and family-related reasons. At the same time, psychological evaluations focus on mental health, evaluating the nexus between a patient’s thoughts, emotions, and feelings with their eating habits and behaviors.

Treatment of eating disorders, thus, involves medication, nutrition education, and therapies. A patient requires nutritional knowledge from professionally trained nutrition consultants and therapists to design effective and healthy eating plans with advice on better and long-term healthy eating habits and behavior. Nutrition education is essential as it helps address poor eating habits displayed among patients (Mehler, 2017). In addition, a psychotherapeutic treatment plan helps address the psychological causes of eating disorders among patients. Through psychotherapy, patients understand their disorders or symptoms and learn effective mitigation strategies to relinquish and replace unhealthy habits with healthy behaviors.

Effective psychotherapy techniques include family-based, cognitive-behavioral, humanistic, and psychodynamic therapies and approaches. Medication given is diverse depending on the eating disorder displayed. Some medicines help control urges and uncontrolled binge, some such as anti-depressants and anti-anxiety help control psychiatrist disorders such as anxiety and depression (Mehler, 2017). Alternative medication can also be used, such as dietary supplements, herbal products, and other complementary medicine to suppress the excessive urge to eat or gain weight loss among patients who use unsafe and unhealthy eating habits.  For severe and fatal cases of eating disorders, hospitalization is an option; for instance, among anorexia patients with malnutrition to acquire personalized and specialized treatment plans and programs.

References

Christiansen, T. (2020, April 8). Anorexia vs. Bulimia: What’s the Difference? Retrieved from https://www.therecoveryvillage.com/mental-health/eating-disorders/related/anorexia-vs-bulimia/

Mayo. (2020). Anorexia nervosa. Retrieved from https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/anorexia-nervosa/symptoms-causes/syc-20353591

Mehler, P. S. (2017). Eating Disorders: A Guide to Medical Care and Complications. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.