Psychosocial Factors Associated with Anorexia Nervosa

Psychosocial factors associated with anorexia nervosa.

Mohamed Aqram Bin Mohamed Mydin

ID: 10250268

Edith Cowan University

Abstract

An essay about the role of psychological and social factors in the cause of anorexia nervosa and psychosocial factors that are associated with the cause of anorexia nervosa. This essay will be discussing about the definition of the disorder, anorexia nervosa and how an individual develops the disorder. A small section will discuss on the suggestive prevention of the disorder.

Introduction

Among the three types of eating disorders, anorexia nervosa is the most common type. It is a disorder in which the person develops a fear of being fat. Binging, or eating large quantities of food in a short period of time, and then purging, or vomiting to empty the stomach of food, are all actions commonly found in people suffering from anorexia nervosa. An anorexic is extremely afraid of becoming fat and might believe she/he is fat even when he/she is very thin. Feelings of fatness and unattractiveness are known to cause this eating disorder. It is a well-known fact that individual's suffering from this disorder have a tendency to over-estimate their unattractiveness and most of all their fatness. Research has concluded that this is not a perceptual problem but rather that the evaluation of this perception that is impaired in anorexics.

High levels of obsession, restraint and perfectionism have been found to be common traits amongst people with anorexia. Therefore, those who suffer from this disorder will have one or more disorder that tags along with it. Substance abuse, clinical depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder and high levels of anxiety are some of the other illnesses that can exist alongside anorexia. While there is no single known cause of anorexia, several things may contribute to the development of the disorder. For example, social influences, genetic and biological factors, psychological issues, and family environments all contribute to the development of anorexia. Social influences are a big contribution to anorexia. This essay will discuss about the roles psychological and social factors play in the cause for anorexia nervosa and its association.

Anorexia nervosa is one common type of eating disorders which means after having this problem the patient will lose at least 15% of his/her minimum normal weight(Bryant-Waugh, 2006). While it is a worldwide problem, it is not as prevalent as other problems regarding the number of patients.First of all, there are between 8 and 13 anorexia cases per 100,000 persons and the average popularity is 0.5% when the individual is diagnosed with a strict criteria whether he or she has anorexia nervosa problem(Granek, 2007). Although the numbers are small, the incidence of this problem has been increasing these years(Agras, Barlow, Ghapin, Abel, & Leitenberg, 1974). Looking at a case study which focuses into Hong Kong, its statistics showcases that about 6,855 people suffer from anorexia nervosa. Secondly, the adolescent females especially between the age of 13 to 19 are at high risk from anorexia nervosa. In the first place, 95% of those anorexia nervosa victims are females (Matlin, 2004). From most of the research papers and also from the results that derive from the studies, it states that anorexia nervosa usually starts at the age of 13 for young adolescent females and the condition largely affects them during the age of 16 to 20. Moreover, it suggests that the incidence rate is highest for females aged 15-19 years in recent researches(Van Hoeken, Seidell, & Hoek, 2003).

Although we find that the number of the cases all over the world is not as big as other sickness, it has a serious impact on the individuals. It will cause physical illness like weight loss, lack of nutrition, interruption of regular menstruation, stomach problems, faint, insomnia, extraversion (Semin, Rosch, & Chassein, 1981). Generally speaking, adolescents who have this problem will develop more slowly then their normal peers. Their Intelligence as well will be affected (Sternberg, Conway, Ketran, & Bernstein, 1981). Besides, the above symptoms also lead to other behavior problems like delinquency (Furnham & Henderson, 1983), drug use disorder such as alcohol(Sullivan, F.R.A.N.Z.C.P., Bulik, Fear, & Pickering, 1998).These are the physical problems that victims of the disorder will face.

The psychological effects however also come into the picture with very undesirable outcomes as most of the psychological effects can be related or traced back to the problem and can last for a lifetime. Such psychological effects are mood, anxiety and panic disorder and social phobia (Sullivan, et al., 1998). The most important thing is that it is quite possible that people who have anorexia nervosa when they are young will have a continuity of this problem into adulthood. Because of the depression and suffering, some patients even hurt themselves to relieve the pain from psychology (self-mutilation of the wrists or in extreme cases, certain parts of the body that will not be visible to their friends, family or loved ones). Some studies have suggested that another serious outcome for patients with anorexia nervosa is suicide (Pompili, Mancinelli, Girardi, Ruberto, & Tatarelli, 2003).

Hilde Bruch (1973) considered a psychodynamic theory who claimed that the origins of Anorexia Nervosa was in early childhood that is determined by the type of parent the individual has. If they are effective parents they respond appropriately to the child's needs whereas ineffective parents will not,for example, provide comfort to the child when they really need to be fed and are hungry. In effective parents will cause the children to grow up with a lack of understanding of how to deal with their internal needs (includes nourishment) as they are over reliant on their parents and thus feel a sense of helpfulness. Developing Anorexia or an eating disorder is therefore a way of gaining a sense of control, by excessively controlling their body size and weight.

Personality type is also a psychological explanation for individuals with perfectionist personalities who strive to get that ideal body type/shape and they feel they are not good enough or are lacking in some way. Supporting this explanation is Montgomery (2005) who found