Anorexia and Bulimia: A Concise Overview
As many as 20% of females in their teenage and young adult years suffer from anorexia nervosa or bulimia nervosa (Alexander-Mott, 4). Males are also afflicted by these eating disorders, but at a much lower rate, with a female to male ratio of six to one. Those with anorexia nervosa refuse to maintain a normal body weight by not eating and have an intense fear of gaining weight. People with bulimia nervosa go through periods of binge eating and then purging (vomiting), or sometimes not purging but instead refraining from eating at all for days. Both of these disorders wreak havoc on a person's body and mental state, forcing them to become emaciated and often depressed.
There is no known exact cause of either anorexia nervosa or bulimia nervosa, but many factors play a role in the initial onset, such as: personality traits, low self-esteem, and social and cultural influences (Costin, 21). Many anorexics have specific personality......
Join Now or Login to view the rest of this paper.
Approximate Word Count: 1177
Approximate Pages: 5 (260 words per double-spaced page) |