ANOREXIA NERVOSA: CHARACTERISTICS, CAUSES, TYPES, CONSEQUENCES - ECONOMÍA - 2025

The anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder that causes a number of very dangerous health symptoms of those who suffer. The most important is the distorted perception of one's own body image. Those affected by this disease are overweight or obese even when they are very thin.

This symptom is the main cause of all the others, among which are generally exaggerated weight loss, anxiety about one's appearance, and an excessive concern about not gaining weight. Usually these symptoms lead the person to severely restrict what they eat.

The consequences of anorexia nervosa can be very severe. In many cases, those affected will skip meals, eat only small amounts of food, and exercise excessively. If left untreated, the resulting weight loss can lead to health problems or even death.

Anorexia is, unfortunately, an increasingly common disorder in developed societies. Therefore, in this article we tell you everything that is known so far about its causes, symptoms and treatments. As with most psychological problems, information is the best weapon to combat it.

characteristics

People with anorexia nervosa have a misperception of their own body image. No matter what their weight or fat percentage is, they tend to look overweight.

This causes them great psychological discomfort, and leads them to adopt all kinds of behaviors that end up leading to the symptoms that we will see below.

These symptoms are generally divided into three types: behavioral, emotional, and health. In this section we will see the first two, while later we will study the consequences that anorexia nervosa can have for the health of those who suffer from it.

-Behavioral symptoms

The symptoms that we will see in this category have to do with the behaviors that people with anorexia adopt to combat the excess weight they perceive.

Although they are often all present, this is not necessary to diagnose this disorder; each patient will develop it in a different way.

Restriction of food intake

The most common behavioral symptom among people with anorexia nervosa is eating less than is necessary to be well. This behavior can appear in several different ways, but it will be present in most cases in which this disease occurs.

For example, some anorexia patients may simply try dieting to try and restrict the calories they consume. Others will avoid some types of food that they perceive as "bad"; for example, those that are high in fat, carbohydrates or simply very caloric.

Certain patients with more extreme versions of anorexia may begin to skip meals or to exaggerately reduce the amounts they eat. For example, they could eat nothing more than one meal a day, eat nothing but fruit, or even go on long periods of fasting.

Excess exercise

While restricting the calories they eat, many people with anorexia nervosa try to reduce their weight even further through physical exercise. This symptom can present itself in different ways, depending on the personal preferences of those affected.

For example, over-exercising includes activities such as working out in a gym several times a day, running many miles on a daily basis, or participating in any other activity that the person believes can help them lose weight.

Binge eating followed by vomiting

A symptom that is usually associated with bulimia but that can also appear in anorexia nervosa is self-induction of vomiting to avoid gaining weight after a binge. Sometimes a person overeats because they cannot control themselves; and then he feels guilty and tries to expel the food.

This symptom can also occur with different variations. For example, some people will put their fingers down their throats to make themselves vomit. Others, on the contrary, will use drugs that induce it. Sometimes they will even use other products such as enemas or laxatives to achieve a similar effect.

What is the difference, then, between anorexia and bulimia? Although both disorders may include binge eating followed by vomiting, the rest of their characteristics are not the same.

The biggest difference is that people with anorexia are always underweight, whereas this does not have to be the case in bulimia.

However, sometimes the differential diagnosis between both diseases can be very complicated.

Lying about certain eating behaviors

To keep people around them from worrying about them or trying to change their behavior, individuals with anorexia nervosa tend to lie about how they behave around food. This symptom can become very dangerous, since it makes it difficult to detect the problem and therefore prevents its treatment.

What does this behavior translate into? People with anorexia can, for example, hide that they have been eating less than usual. When asked about it, they may lie saying that they are not hungry, or that they are eating some meals outside the home.

In more extreme cases, they may avoid eating with other people altogether so as not to get questions. The more serious the case of anorexia, the more serious the lies tend to be.

Complaints about one's appearance

Another of the most frequent symptoms among people with anorexia nervosa is the appearance of constant complaints about their body. In fact, the base of this disease is in a distorted vision of the own image; although not all patients mention it aloud.

Those who do can perform behaviors such as constantly looking in the mirror and complaining about what they see, complaining to other people about their appearance, or looking at photographs of models or celebrities expressing their desire to be like them.

In extreme cases, the person with anorexia may try to cover their body to prevent others from seeing what they perceive as blemishes. They can do this, for example, by putting on a lot of layers of clothing or baggy, baggy clothes that don't reveal their figure at all.

Social withdrawal

Finally, because this disorder affects the self-esteem of those who suffer from it, many of the patients with anorexia end up feeling uncomfortable in the company of other people. Because of this, there are many who end up isolating themselves from their family, friends and loved ones and damaging all their social relationships.

-Emotional symptoms

Not all symptoms involve acting in unhealthy or unusual ways. People with anorexia also tend to develop certain emotional and cognitive patterns that are responsible for much of the suffering they suffer. In this section we will see some of the most common.

Excessive preoccupation with food

People with anorexia are often obsessed with what they eat, and whether it is "healthy" or not. If they eat something they do not consider suitable, they usually feel great discomfort and worry for hours or even days.

This is one of the main reasons why anorexics avoid eating in social situations. When they are forced to take something inappropriate, they can even develop anxiety attacks or depressive symptoms for a longer or shorter period.

Fear of gaining weight

Another of the most common fears among people with this disorder is that of having gained weight beyond the limits they consider acceptable. This worry is constant, and can translate into behaviors such as weighing yourself frequently, measuring your body fat, or simply looking in the mirror.

On an emotional level, this symptom can also cause problems such as anxiety, sadness, social withdrawal and general malaise.

Anhedonia

Because of their constant worry about their weight, people with anorexia often have no room in their minds for any other emotions. For this reason, it is often said that their feelings become "flat"; that is, anything other than your fears lose intensity.

Thus, for example, it is common for an individual with this disorder to lose interest in their hobbies, goals or objectives. Usually, you won't feel like doing anything that requires effort, and time will be spent doing simple activities like watching TV or surfing the Internet.

On the other hand, because the only emotions they feel are worry and anxiety, these people tend to be much more irritable than normal.

Causes

As with most psychological disorders, today it is not known exactly what causes anorexia nervosa. However, there are several known factors that can influence its appearance. Normally, they are divided into three groups: genetic, psychological, and social.

Genetic factors

Various investigations on the subject suggest that there are several biological factors that could predispose a person to develop anorexia nervosa throughout their life.

For example, perfectionism is known to have a strong genetic component, as is perseverance or a tendency to have anxiety.

All these factors have been shown to be related to a greater or lesser extent with anorexia. Therefore, we could say that there are people more likely to suffer from this disorder from birth. However, this does not mean that they have to develop it yes or yes throughout their lives.

Psychological factors

As with genetic factors, there are several psychological traits that can make anorexia nervosa more likely.

For example, some people have a very perfectionistic personality, or are prone to obsessions. This, when combined with other factors, can end up causing the disorder.

Social factors

The last type of factor theoretically has to do with the pressure that society exerts on citizens to maintain a type of body image.

This theory states that, due to the messages we constantly receive from media such as television or movies, we would have a distorted vision of how our bodies should be.

This factor alone is not usually capable of causing anorexia nervosa; but when combined with some of those described above, it does seem to influence the appearance of the disease.

Types

There are mainly two types of anorexia, which are distinguished based on the way the person restricts the calories they eat.

Purgative anorexia is one in which patients binge on food and then vomit or expel it in some other way. Its main difference with bulimia is that in the latter, those affected are usually overweight, while in anorexia they are usually much thinner than usual.

On the other hand, restrictive anorexia is one in which patients directly limit the amount of food they eat. This, as we have already seen, can be done in many ways: through diets, fasts, or the intake of low-calorie, low-fat or "diet" foods.

In adolescents

Adolescents are one of the groups most affected by anorexia nervosa and other similar eating disorders. At this stage of life, social pressure and the need to fit in with others can make young people obsess over their body image to the point of developing such a problem.

At the same time, adolescents have not yet developed the necessary skills to resist this social pressure. This makes it much more likely that they will end up with anorexia. According to various studies, up to 36% of young adolescent girls would manifest symptoms of this syndrome at some point.

Although 90% of those affected by eating disorders are women, adolescent boys can also develop similar problems. In fact, more and more young men have principles of obsession with their own bodies.

In adults

Many people associate anorexia and eating disorders with young people. However, many adults have symptoms related to these types of problems. In recent decades, there has been a large increase among people over 30 who develop them.

The causes for this unusual situation can be many; but it is usually believed to have to do with the intense social pressure that exists to keep us thin throughout our lives.

This, along with the stresses that modern life entails for most people, might be enough to explain what happens.

Consequences

It does not matter if it appears in adolescence or in adult life; Anorexia nervosa, if not treated in time, can have devastating consequences for the physical and mental health of those affected.

The most serious possible outcome is death. One of the possible causes is, of course, malnutrition; but it is not the only one. At any time during the development of the disease, the patient may die due to an arrhythmia or an imbalance in electrolyte levels.

Other not so serious but equally worrisome consequences are failure in some organs such as the heart or kidneys, loss of muscle mass and bone density, anemia, loss of menstruation in women and decreased testosterone in men, or even the appearance of irreversible brain damage.

On a psychological level, anorexia nervosa can also have very serious consequences. For example, patients may end up developing disorders such as major depression, obsessive compulsive disorder, or generalized anxiety, which would further complicate the situation in which they find themselves.

Treatments

There is no single treatment that has been shown to be effective for all cases of anorexia nervosa. However, it is known that intervening in some way as soon as possible is key to ensuring the recovery of patients and avoiding future relapses.

Regardless of what type of treatment is used to cope with the disease, it will usually be necessary to focus on three goals: returning the person to an appropriate weight, treating the psychological problems related to anorexia, and reducing or eliminating the thoughts and behaviors that cause it. did appear.

One of the biggest difficulties when treating people with anorexia is that they often do not recognize that they have a problem. Due to the nature of the disorder itself, they continue to believe that they need to lose weight even when they are extremely thin.

Therefore, the first step in any treatment will be to convince patients that they really need help. In case of not being able to achieve it, the most common solution is to intern them in a specialized center where their behavior can be controlled until they are able to take care of their health by themselves.

In addition to focusing on increasing caloric intake gradually, treatments for anorexia always include some form of psychotherapy to fix the root problem.

Sometimes it is also possible to use certain psychotropic drugs to alleviate some of the more serious psychological problems that led to the development of the disorder in the first place.

References

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3. "Anorexia nervosa: What you need to know" in: Medical News Today. Retrieved on: November 09, 2018 from Medical News Today: medicalnewstoday.com.
4. "Anorexia nervosa: what it is and why it occurs" in: Family. Retrieved on: November 09, 2018 from En Familia: enfamilia.aeped.es.
5. "Anorexia nervosa" in: Wikipedia. Retrieved on: November 09, 2018 from Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org.