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Anorexia Nervosa

Anorexia, or anorexia nervosa, is an eating disorder that revolves around a fear of gaining weight or a distorted perception of your weight. It is often characterized by abnormally low body weight. Anorexia can severely impact your life and health.

While on the outside, it looks like anorexia is a problem with food, in reality, there are often underlying issues and co-occurring disorders that the control over food is trying to solve.

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What is Anorexia Nervosa?

Someone struggling with anorexia will typically go to extreme lengths to lose weight or maintain low body weight. This may be done by heavily monitoring calorie intake, restricting the amount or types of food eaten, excessive exercising, and misusing diet pills and laxatives. Often, in cases of anorexia, emotional issues are covered up by the disorder and thinness is connected to self-worth.

It can be difficult to notice the signs and symptoms of anorexia right away. Just because there is a decrease in food consumed does not mean that the person anorexia is affected will automatically be very thin, as everyone’s body weights are different.

About Anorexia Nervosa

Physical symptoms of anorexia

Symptoms can widely range, some of the more common can include:

Extreme weight loss
Fatigue
Dizziness
Dehydration
Fainting
Very thin appearance.
Thinning hair or hair loss.
Loss of tooth enamel from binging and purging.
Changes in menstruation cycles.
Changes in bowel movements, sometimes constipation.

Emotional and behavioral signs and symptoms of Anorexia Nervosa

Excessive exercising.
Fear of gaining weight.
Obsession with food.
Dieting and fasting.
Very strict with food consumption and intake.
Skipping meals frequently.
Not eating in public.
Lying about their food consumption.
Binging and purging (by way of vomiting, using laxatives, diet, supplements, enemas, etc.)
Wearing baggy clothing to hide dramatic weight loss.
Insomnia
Irritability
Reduced sex drive.
Changes in mood

Causes of anorexia

It can be hard to pinpoint the exact cause of anorexia. There are a number of factors to consider such as biological, psychological, and environmental.

Some people’s biological/genetic makeup might make them more prone to anorexia. Psychologically, when there are co-occurring disorders, such as obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) or character traits such as perfectionism, it can be easier to develop an eating disorder like anorexia. It doesn’t help that in modern-day culture, there is often a large focus on thinness. This is an environmental factor that can influence someone’s eating disorder, as it can be hard to escape certain body ideals that are posted across movies, television, music, and social media.

Risks of Anorexia Nervosa

There are significant risk factors to consider with anorexia. A lack of proper nutritional intake can severely affect your health. Anorexia is most common among teenagers where proper nutrition is essential for mental, physical, and emotional growth. Whether someone is severely underweight or not, they can experience some following risks.

Bone loss.
Loss of muscle.
Absence of menstruation cycles in females.
Decreased testosterone levels in males.
Anemia
Heart problems
Kidney issues
Gastrointestinal issues
Low levels of blood potassium, sodium, and chloride.
Mood disorders
Depression
Anxiety
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
Alcohol and substance abuse
Suicidal thoughts

TREATMENT OPTIONS

The road to lifelong recovery starts in a safe and secure environment with trained professionals who will teach life skills and coping tools to begin a meaningful journey to recovery.

Inpatient

Treatment in a structured 24-hour medical or psychiatric inpatient unit. Medical management and intensive treatment of physically harmful eating disorder behaviors, medical complications, and co-occurring disorders, along with a focus on weight restoration.

Partial Hospitalization

Treatment typically occurs five days a week for six to eight hours each day. Client remains medically stable but requires more intensive, structured programming to reduce eating disorder behaviors.

Outpatient and Intensive Outpatient Care (OP & IOP)

Lives at home or in a structured living environment with continued participation in group therapy sessions, individualized therapy sessions, educational programs on mental health, addiction, nutrition, and more.

Eating Disorders Treatment Modalities

Therapy, psychiatry, and group support are important in a well-rounded eating disorder treatment program. The following services are provided:

Group and Individual Therapies

Nutritional Assessment and Consultation

Psychiatric Evaluation and Medication Prescription and Management

Psychoeducation; Educate and Inform Patients about the Disorder

Staff-supported Eating

Case Management