Eating Disorders

Question 1

3 main categories of eating disorders

Answer 1

• Anorexia: Inability to maintain body weight at or above a minimally normal weight for age and height with an intense fear of gaining weight or becoming fat, even though underweight
• Bulimia: Recurrent episodes of binge eating, accompanied by inappropriate compensatory behaviour in order to prevent weight gain, such as self-induced vomiting, use of laxatives, excessive exercise, etc.
• Binge-Eating Disorder: Binge eating without compensatory behaviours (ie. Vomiting, exercise, etc.); individuals often obese

Question 2

Gender Differences in Body Image

Answer 2

• As girls age, proportion of them who feel they are too fat increases, and so does percentage of them who diet
• As boys age, proportion of them who feel they are too thin increases

Question 3

Anorexia Nervosa vs. Anorexia

Answer 3

• Anorexia Nervosa: nervous loss of appetite -> Psychological component
• Anorexia: loss of appetite (no psychological component)

Question 4

Anorexia Nervosa is characterized by

Answer 4

• Intense fear of becoming fat or obese
• Distorted body image
• Refusal to maintain minimal body weight
• Cessation of menstruation

Question 5

Anorexia Nervosa

Answer 5

• Pattern of self-starvation
• More common among affluent, well-educated adolescent girls from affluent countries
• Highest onset between ages 14-18, 8-11x more common amongst females
• Supposedly on the rise
• Can be lethal; causes physical problems
• Central features:
• • Drive for thinness
• • Preoccupation with food
• • Cognitive/perceptual changes (ie. Changes in body perception)
• Personality:
• • Obsessional, perfectionistic, heightened need for control
• • “prickly” -> not warm & fuzzy

Question 6

Physical Problems Caused by Anorexia Nervosa

Answer 6

• Hypothermia (low internal heat)
• Low blood pressure
• Reduced bone density
• Amenorrhea
• Electrolyte imbalances
• Cardiac problems

Question 7

PDM: Eating Disorders

Answer 7

• Affective: depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, emotional concerns (e.g., feelings of being starved for care and affection)
• Cognitive Patterns: a preoccupation with being inadequate, incompetent, unloved; a focus on being young, “little”, un-grownup, and innocent; desire to remain a child
• Somatic States: a sense of “numbness”; confusion about bodily sensations; physical emptiness in the stomach associated with the sense of an empty self
• Relationship Patterns: issues of control and perfectionism; keep their problem secret, relate to others superficially; handle fears of feelings unloved by compliance

Question 8

Hewitt’s Study: What do we know about anorexia nervosa deaths?

Answer 8

• Life-threatening: 25-50% die
• Predominantly in women (90%)
• Predominantly in young women
• It was previously said that chronicity of disorder (if you’ve had it for a long time) is predictor of death
• Method:
• • Looked at US death record stats from 80’s-90’s -> 10.6m participant
• • Death records listed primary cause and contributing causes of death -> selected participants with anorexia nervous as primary or contributing cause of death
• Results:
• • 724 people had AN listed as primary or contributing cause; predominantly female
• • Largest death spikes happen around age 39 and age 89
• • Replication: data from BC and Norway supported that average age of death is 60-80