AnorexiaBy: Mariella Marie

*This a project for a high school AP Psychology course. This is a fictionalized account of having a psychological ailment. For questions about this blog project or its content please email the teacher Chris Jocham: jocham@fultonschools.org

About Anorexia

Anorexia Nervosa is an eating disorder in which someone takes dangerous measures to lose weight. These measures may include: skipping meals, using laxatives, avoiding food, intense and compulsive exercising, and eating food in unreasonably small quantities.

Symptoms

• Fear of gaining weight, even though underweight

• Intense resistance to being at healthy body weight for age and height

• Infrequent or absent period, or delayed onset of first period

• Denial of the severity of disorder

Treatment

• Treatment of anorexia requires a specific program that involves three main phases:

• restoring weight that has been lost to severe dieting and purging

• treating any psychological disturbances, such as distortion of body image, low self-esteem, and interpersonal or emotional conflicts; and

• achieving long-term remission and rehabilitation, or full recovery.

Who’s At Risk?

• Females make up 95% of the anorexic population

• Most are also teenage girls• Caucasians more affected than any other race• More common in middle and upper classes

According to the statistics these girls are at higher risk for developing Anorexia Nervosa.

Causes

• Dysfunction in hypothalamus which controls metabolism

• Feeding problems or general under eating as an infant

• Maternal depressive symptoms• Peer pressure to look a certain way• Poor self image

Health Risks

• Low blood pressure • Abnormally slow heart rate• Constipation• Abdominal pain• Absence of menstrual periods

Low Blood Pressure Abdominal PainAbsence of Period

Health Risks (cont.)

• Decreased urination• Potassium deficiency• Bone density loss• Anemia• Electrolyte imbalance

Anemia

Bone Density Loss Potassium Defficiency

Celebs That Have Battled the Disease

Alanis Morissette Mary-Kate Olsen Victoria Beckham

How Anorexia Affects Me…

Having Anorexia, I feel unconfident in myself and have very low self-esteem..

Sometimes I’m scared I might die because of my condition, but I’m even more afraid of being overweight.

I Have a strong aversion to food, I have since I was a little girl.

I hate looking in the mirror…

Food is all around bad for me, I don’t even like to as much as smell it.

When I do eat, I eat bland foods like rice and crackers.

The only beverages I drink are Right Size Smoothies and water.

Along with my eating disorder comes depression…its hard when you’re never satisfied with yourself as you are.

THE END