Anorexia Nervosa:
Anorexia nervosa literally means loss of appetite but this is a misnomer: A person with anorexia nervosa is hungry, but he or she denies the hunger because of an irrational fear of becoming fat. Anorexia nervosa is often characterized by self-starvation, food preoccupation and rituals, compulsive exercising, a low body weight, and an absence of menstrual cycles. Untreated, anorexia can be fatal. It is not a "fad" which the victim will outgrow if left alone. The death of pop singer Karen Carpenter at age 32 was attributed to heart failure, following her eight-year battle with anorexia. The most common cause of death in a long-time anorexic is low serum potassium, which can cause an irregular heartbeat.
DSM-IV Technical Criteria for Anorexia
- 1-Refusal to maintain body weight at or above a minimally normal weight for age and height (e.g., weight loss leading to maintenance of body weight less than 85% of that expected; or failure to make expected weight gain during period of growth, leading to body weight less than 85% of that expected.
- 2- Intense fear of gaining weight or becoming fat, even though underweight.
- 3- Disturbance in the way in which one's body weight or shape is experienced, undue influence of body weight or shape on self-evaluation, or denial of the seriousness of the current low body weight.
- 4- In post-monarchial females (who haven't yet gone through menopause) amenorrhea - the absence of at least three consecutive menstrual cycles.