Anorexia Nervosa Essay, Research Paper

Anorexia Nervosa

Models are pretty and thin and are often taken as role models of

success. However they must be underweight to look “perfect” on television

and magazines. In order to be thin, they develop a disease called anorexia

nervosa.

Although anorexia and bulimia are related to eating disorders,

anorexia nervosa has more background than bulimia. This essay states what

anorexia nervosa is and for how long the disease has been around in society.

There is more tan one definition of anorexia nervosa; however, all

describe the same problem. Here are some of the definitions:

Anorexia nervosa is an eating problem that occurs when a person is

unrealistically concerned about being overweight and therefore eat as

little as possible. This condition is both a physical illness and a

psychiatric illness. Hormone changes result from the low weight and low

levels of body fat. In young women menstruation stops. Anorexia nervosa

can be very severe illness, including a risk of death from starvation

(Encarta Encyclopedia, Internet).

Anorexia nervosa is a disorder in which preoccupation with dieting

and thinness leads to excessive weight loss. The individual may not

acknowledge that weight loss or restricted eating is a problem

(www.anorexia.com, Internet).

The American Anorexia Nervosa Association defines anorexia as a

“serious illness of deliberate self-starvation with profound psychiatric

and physical components.”

Now that we know what anorexia means, lets narrate how this disease

came to be noticeable. We have the knowledge that anorexia nervosa is

affecting a greater number of individuals. Although it was discovered not

so long ago, anorexia nervosa has been around for quite a while.

According to Neuman, there is evidence of the presence of an identical

condition that proceeds from ancient times, long before the diagnosis was

defined. Later, in the Middle Ages, goodness was equated with thinness.

The acceptance of thinness was a view that angels were so good and pure

that they must be very thin. Everyone talked about how thin these angels

were, and how they could gather around in a persons head. This issue

developed a so-called miracle maidens.

In the middle ages and later, there were miracle maidens who

purported to live on air, were fed by the fairies when nobody was there, or

toyed occasionally with such delicacies as the juice of a roasted raisin.

People traveled for miles to see these living wonders. Most were frauds…

.but a few may well have had anorexia nervosa, a disorder which at that

time was not recognized (Daily et al, 5).

There is another case of the disorder that occurred in 1599 when a

girl in France had a minor illness. After three or more years of

recovering from the disease, she was not convinced to eat. Although she

was self-starving, she would be active but cold and underfed. She became

the “French Fasting Girl of Confolens.”

After a century passed by, the first medical definition of the

disorder was given by Richard Morton. Followed by the study of anorexia

nervosa of Alexander Lucas of the Mayo Clinic who discovered the

“descriptive era.”

The descriptive era, being the first of five eras, tells us about

anorexia nervosa and the way some doctors used to think of it. After the

doctors heard about this disease they made up their own opinion about

anorexia, which are described by the next four eras. Beginning with the

descriptive era which was defined in 1689 in England as a condition of

“nervous consumption,” deliberate self-starvation caused by “an ill and

morbid state of the spirits.” Morton describes the case of a 17-year-old

girl that Lucas recounts in 1981. She fell into a total suppression of

her mind and her appetite began to fade away and her digestion to be bad.

She felt that she needed to study harder and to her that was an excuse to

skip meals. Although she was thin (could see her bones) she could not stop

dieting. The girl did not want to be treated and died. In 1870 Sir

William Gull from England and Professor Lesegue from France who worked

independently brought up the term “anorexia hysterica” in English and

“anorexie hysterique” in French. But it was Gull who eventually created

“anorexia nervosa.” At the end of the century the disorder, which was

usually found in the middle and upper classes, was rare but recognized.

The following era is the pituitary era defined in 1914. Doctors

were sure that the disease was originated from some pathology of the organs

and cells. Nevertheless many cases were inexplicable from this point of

view until Simmond described the pituitary cachexia. Simmond discovered a

disease found in the pituitary gland of an underfed woman that developed of

pituitary failure and died. Some patients were diagnosed with pituitary

disease even when there were no signs of pituitary failure.

Rediscovery era the third era defined in 1930, refers to the first

era. Here, the doctors rediscover anorexia nervosa. Although doctors

thought that the causes for the diseases were because of pituitary failure,

they soon were convinced that anorexia nervosa was the main effect for this

diseases. Following the rediscovery era is the psychoanalytical era

defined in 1940. This era is an extension of the previous era. According

to Waller, Kafman, and Deutch, anorexia symptoms were resulting from

fantasies and fears of oral impregnation. Walter Counnon experimented that

emotional states produced physiological changes. He said that the mind and

body were crashing one another to develop a disease, including anorexia

nervosa.

The modern era is the last of the eras and is defined by Hilde

Bruch. Hilde Bruch wrote a paper in 1961 entitled “Perceptual and

Conceptual Disturbances in Anorexia Nervosa.” Brunch stated the

difference between “primary anorexia nervosa”(the one described by Gull and

Morton) and “atypical anorexia nervosa” (self-starvation due to psychiatric

illness). According to Bruch (cited in Lucas, 1981) the authentic

appearance is named by the following psychological disturbances:

1. A disturbance in body image of delusional proportions,

2. a disturbance in the accuracy of perception or cognitive

interpretation of stimuli arising within the body with failure to recognize

signs of nutritional need, and

3. A paralyzing sense of ineffectiveness pervading all thinking

and activities.

This three disturbances describe mostly how anorexia comes to be and in

which individuals develops.

We can figure out that anorexia has been here for hundreds of years,

occurring in those that did not seem to be satisfied with their appearances.

It has passed by but not unnoticeable by society. Although this disease

was developed in the mind, we know that is serious and treatment and

patience is needed for the individual.

Cited Works

Byrne, Katherine. A Parent’s Guide to Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia. 1987

Brumberg, Joan Jacobs. Fasting Girls. 1988

Hoffman, Lee, “Eating Disorders: Anorexia Nervosa.” Self-Help & Psychology

Magazine. 1993

Neuman, Patricia A. Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia. 1983