Anorexia

Anorexia Nervosa is a life-threatening eating disorder that cannot be accounted for by the existence of any known physical disease. As Davison and Neale (1990) have pointed out, the primary population suffer from this disorder is compose of young females, generally adolescents. Such women often exhibit low levels of self-esteem, fear of eating, a sense of being larger physically than they actually are, and a drive toward perfectionism. This brief report will describe the theories that have emerged regarding the nature and etiology of anorexia nervosa, the different theoretical perspectives on this problem, the dynamics of the family as they relate to this problem, and various therapeutic interventions that have met with some success in treating this population.

Davison and Neale (1990) have described the problem as symptomatically manifested in terms of severe weight loss, absence of menstruation, the presence of manic energy levels, a growth of a downy hair covering over the body, and an obsessed attitude toward food in all its forms. An article by Riggotti, et al. (1991) reported that women who have prolonged states of advanced anorexia, in spite of treatment and an overall improvement in their body weight profile, tend to suffer in later life from osteoporosis. Davison and Neale (1990) have found that for many anorexics, long-term physiological problems related to the original anorexic state are commonplace; as many as 5% of al

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undamental component in this poor self-image is the inability of many anorexics to communicate openly and freely with parents (Tufts University, 1992). Other research has indicated that at the heart of the anorexics problems lie dysfunctional families; for example, a series of early studies by Rosman, Minuchin, and Liebman in Coleman (1988) have demonstrated that when anorexics and their families are brought together for family therapy during an approach known as the “family lunch,” communication can be facilitated and anorexics can be encouraged to eat. These “family lunch” sessions are based on the belief that the anorexic may merely be the external sign and symptom of a far greater family-wide disturbance; the anorexic may represent the visibly “sick” family member whose problems obscure the underlying issues and causes. Thus, treating the anorexic often means that the entire family, especially the parents, must be involved in the intervention and therapeutic process. While psychoanalysis intervention is almost always an adjunct or focus of treatment for the anorexic, that treatment, according to Coleman (1986) and Davison and Neale (1990) may include force-feeding, institutionalism, loss of in-hospital privileges when refu
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Approximate Word count = 1301
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page)

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