S.

S JAIN SUBODH LAW COLLEGE, MANSAROVAR,

JAIPUR

SESSION: 2018-2019

SUBJECT: ENGLISH

TOPIC: EATING DISORDER

SUBMITTED TO: SUBMITTED BY:

DR. PRERNA AGARWAL PUSHPENDRA SHARMA

ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF ENGLISH (BA.LLB) SEM.-I (B)

 SUPERVISOR’S CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that the Project Assignment of English entitled- “EATING DISORDER”
submitted by Pushpendra Shrma of BA.LLB Semester-I (B) for the partial fulfillment of
the requirements of the degree of BA.LLB in S.S Jain Subodh Law College, Jaipur
embodies the bonafide work done under the supervision of Dr. Prerna Agarwal (Assistant
Professor) during the academic year 2018-19.

Place: Signature:

Date:
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The success and final outcome of this project required a lot of guidance and assistance from

many people and I am extremely fortunate to have got this all along the completion of my

assignment work. I respectfully thank Asst.Professor Dr. Prerna Agarwal for giving me

this opportunity to do this assignment work and providing me all support and guidance which

made me to complete the assignment in time. I hope the project will be knowledgeable and

helpful in my future.

Thank You.
 TOPIC PAGES

INTRODUCTION 5

CLASSIFICATION 6-8

CAUSES 9-10

11-12
SYMPTOMS
DIAGNOSIS 13
TREATMENT 14-17
OUTCOME 18-19
20
BIBLIOGRAPHY

INRODUCTION
An eating disorder is a mental disorder defined by abnormal eating habits that negatively
affect a person's physical or mental health. They include binge eating disorder where people
eat a large amount in a short period of time, anorexia nervosa where people eat very little and
thus have a low body weight, bulimia nervosa where people eat a lot and then try to rid
themselves of the food, pica where people eat non-food items, rumination disorder where
people regurgitate food, avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder where people have a lack of
interest in food, and a group of other specified feeding or eating disorders. Anxiety
disorders, depression, and substance abuse are common among people with eating
disorders. These disorders do not include obesity.

The cause of eating disorders is not clear. Both biological and environmental factors appear
to play a role. Cultural idealization of thinness is believed to contribute. Eating disorders
affect about 12 percent of dancers. Those who have experienced sexual abuse are also more
likely to develop eating disorders. Some disorders such as pica and rumination disorder occur
more often in people with intellectual disabilities. Only one eating disorder can be diagnosed
at a given time.

Treatment can be effective for many eating disorders. This typically involves counselling, a

proper diet, a normal amount of exercise, and the reduction of efforts to eliminate
food. Hospitalization is occasionally needed. Medications may be used to help with some of
the associated symptoms. At five years about 70% of people with anorexia and 50% of
people with bulimia recover. Recovery from binge eating disorder is less clear and estimated
at 20% to 60%.Both anorexia and bulimia increase the risk of death.

In the developed world binge eating disorder affects about 1.6% of women and 0.8% of men
in a given year. Anorexia affects about 0.4% and bulimia affects about 1.3% of young women
in a given year. Up to 4% of women have anorexia, 2% have bulimia, and 2% have binge
eating disorder at some point in time. Anorexia and bulimia occur nearly ten times more often
in females than males. Typically they begin in late childhood or early adulthood. Rates of
other eating disorders are not clear. Rates of eating disorders appear to be lower in less
developed countries.1

1
Eating Disorder available at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eating_disorder
 CLASSIFICATION

1. Anorexia nervosa

Anorexia (an-o-REK-see-uh) nervosa — often simply called anorexia — is a potentially life-

threatening eating disorder characterized by an abnormally low body weight, intense fear of
gaining weight, and a distorted perception of weight or shape. People with anorexia use
extreme efforts to control their weight and shape, which often significantly interferes with
their health and life activities.

When you have anorexia, you excessively limit calories or use other methods to lose weight,
such as excessive exercise, using laxatives or diet aids, or vomiting after eating. Efforts to
reduce your weight, even when underweight, can cause severe health problems, sometimes to
the point of deadly self-starvation.

2. Bulimia nervosa

Bulimia (boo-LEE-me-uh) nervosa — commonly called bulimia — is a serious, potentially

life-threatening eating disorder. When you have bulimia, you have episodes of bingeing and
purging that involve feeling a lack of control over your eating. Many people with bulimia
also restrict their eating during the day, which often leads to more binge eating and purging.

During these episodes, you typically eat a large amount of food in a short time, and then try
to rid yourself of the extra calories in an unhealthy way. Because of guilt, shame and an
intense fear of weight gain from overeating, you may force vomiting or you may exercise too
much or use other methods, such as laxatives, to get rid of the calories.

If you have bulimia, you're probably preoccupied with your weight and body shape, and may
judge yourself severely and harshly for your self-perceived flaws. You may be at a normal
weight or even a bit overweight.

3. Binge-eating disorder

When you have binge-eating disorder, you regularly eat too much food (binge) and feel a lack
of control over your eating. You may eat quickly or eat more food than intended, even when
you're not hungry, and you may continue eating even long after you're uncomfortably full.

After a binge, you may feel guilty, disgusted or ashamed by your behavior and the amount of
food eaten. But you don't try to compensate for this behavior with excessive exercise or
purging, as someone with bulimia or anorexia might. Embarrassment can lead to eating alone
to hide your bingeing.

A new round of bingeing usually occurs at least once a week. You may be normal weight,
overweight or obese.
 4. Rumination disorder

Rumination disorder is repeatedly and persistently regurgitating food after eating, but it's not
due to a medical condition or another eating disorder such as anorexia, bulimia or binge-
eating disorder. Food is brought back up into the mouth without nausea or gagging, and
regurgitation may not be intentional. Sometimes regurgitated food is rechewed and
reswallowed or spit out.

The disorder may result in malnutrition if the food is spit out or if the person eats
significantly less to prevent the behavior. The occurrence of rumination disorder may be
more common in infancy or in people who have an intellectual disability.

5. Avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder

1. Avoidance of specific foods or restriction of intake because of a lack of interest, the

sensory characteristics of food, or averse consequences of eating
2. Includes 1 or more factors: significant weight loss (or failure to gain), significant
nutritional deficiency, dependence on enteral feeding or oral nutritional supplements,
marked interference with psychosocial functioning, or no evidence of body
dysmorphism2

Causes of Eating Disorder

2
Classification of Eating disorder available at
http://www.clevelandclinicmeded.com/medicalpubs/diseasemanagement/psychiatry-psychology/eating-
disorders/
Explanations available at https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/eating-disorders/symptoms-
causes/syc-20353603
Many people with eating disorders also have body dysmorphic disorder, altering the way a
person sees themselves. Studies have found that a high proportion of individuals diagnosed
with body dysmorphic disorder also had some type of eating disorder, with 15% of
individuals having either anorexia nervosa or bulimia nervosa. This link between body
dysmorphic disorder and anorexia stems from the fact that both BDD and anorexia nervosa
are characterized by a preoccupation with physical appearance and a distortion of body
image. There are also many other possibilities such as environmental, social and interpersonal
issues that could promote and sustain these illnesses. Also, the media are oftentimes blamed
for the rise in the incidence of eating disorders due to the fact that media images of idealized
slim physical shape of people such as models and celebrities motivate or even force people to
attempt to achieve slimness themselves. The media are accused of distorting reality, in the
sense that people portrayed in the media are either naturally thin and thus unrepresentative of
normality or unnaturally thin by forcing their bodies to look like the ideal image by putting
excessive pressure on themselves to look a certain way. While past findings have described
the causes of eating disorders as primarily psychological, environmental, and sociocultural,
new studies have uncovered evidence that there is a prevalent genetic/heritable aspect of the
causes of eating disorders

Some of the causes of eating disorder are as follows:-

Genetics
Increasing numbers of family, twin, and adoption research studies have provided compelling
evidence to show that genetic factors contribute to a predisposition for eating disorders. 1 In
other words, individuals who are born with certain genotypes are at heightened risk for the
development of an eating disorder. This also means that eating disorders are heritable.
Individuals who have had a family member with an eating disorder are 7-12 times more
likely to develop one themselves. Newer research is exploring a possible epigenetic influence
on eating disorder development.  Epigenetics is a process by which environmental effects
alter the way genes are expressed.

Temperament
Some of the genes that have been identified to contribute to eating disorders are associated
with specific personality traits. These aspects of personality are thought to be highly heritable
and often exist before the eating disorder and can persist after recovery. The following traits
are common among people who develop an eating disorder but all of these personality
characteristics can exist in the absence of an eating disorder as well.3

3
Causes available at https://eatingdisorder.org/eating-disorder-information/underlying-causes/
 - obsessive thinking
- perfectionism
- sensitivity to reward and punishment,  harm avoidance
- neuroticism6 (emotional instability and hypersensitivity)
- impulsivity, especially in bulimia nervosa
- rigidity and excessive persistence, especially in anorexia nervosa

Biology
Even in healthy individuals without eating disorders, states of semi-starvation have been
shown to trigger obsessive behavior around food, depression, anxiety and neuroticism that
promote a continued cycle of starvation.  Additionally, brain imaging studies have shown that
people with eating disorders may have altered brain circuitry that contributes to eating
disorders.  Differences in the anterior insula, striatal regions, and anterior ventral striatal
pathway have been discovered.  Problems with the serotonin pathway have also been
discovered. These differences may help to explain why people who develop anorexia
nervosa are able to inhibit their appetite, why people who develop binge eating disorder are
vulnerable to overeating when they are hungry, and why people who develop bulimia
nervosahave less ability to control impulses to purge.

Trauma
Traumatic events such as physical or sexual abuse sometimes precipitate the development of
an eating disorder. Survivors of trauma often struggle with shame, guilt, body dissatisfaction
and a feeling of a lack of control.  The eating disorder may become the individual’s attempt
to regain control or cope with these intense emotions. In some cases, the eating disorder is an
expression of self-harm or misdirected self-punishment for the trauma.  As many as 50% of
those with eating disorders may also be struggling with trauma disorders.  It’s important to
treat both conditions concurrently in a comprehensive and integrated approach which is why
The Center for Eating Disorders offers a specialized treatment track for women and men with
eating disorders who’ve also experienced trauma.

Coping Skill Deficits

Individuals with eating disorders are often lacking the skills to tolerate negative experiences. 
Behaviors such as restricting, purging, bingeing and excessive exercise often develop in
response to emotional pain, conflict, low self-esteem, anxiety, depression, stress or trauma. 
In the absence of more positive coping skills, the eating disorder behaviors may provide acute
relief from distress but quickly lead to more physical and psychological harm.  4

4
Trauma and Coping skill available at https://www.eatingdisorderhope.com/information/eating-disorder
Instead of helping, the eating disorder behaviors only serve to maintain a dangerous cycle of
emotional dysregulation and numbing feelings.  Effective treatment for the eating disorder
involves education about and practice of alternative coping mechanisms and self-soothing
techniques such as in Dialectic Behavior Therapy.

Sociocultural Ideals
Our media’s increased obsession with the thin-ideal and industry promotion of a “perfect”
body may contribute to unrealistic body ideals in people with and without eating
disorders.15,16 An increase in access to global media and technological advances such as
Photoshop and airbrushing have further skewed our perception of attainable beauty
standards.   In 1998, a researcher documented the response of adolescents in rural Fiji to the
introduction of western television. This new media exposure resulted in significant
preoccupations related to shape and weight, purging behavior to control weight, and negative
body image. This landmark study illustrated a vulnerability to the images and values
imported with media. Given that many individuals exposed to media and cultural ideals do
not develop clinical eating disorders, it may be that individuals already at-risk, have increased
vulnerability to society’s messages about weight and beauty and, perhaps, seek out increased
exposure to them.

Dieting
Dieting is the most common precipitating factor in the development of an eating disorder. In
the U.S., more than $60 billion is spent every year on diets and weight-loss products. Despite
dieting’s 95-98% failure rate, people continue to buy dangerous products and take extreme
measures to lose weight. Restrictive dieting is not effective for weight loss and is an
unhealthy behavior for anyone, especially children and adolescents.  For individuals who are
genetically predisposed to eating disorders, dieting can be the catalyst for heightened
obsessions about weight and food.  Dieting also intensifies feelings of guilt and shame around
food which may ultimately contribute to a cycle of restricting, purging, bingeing or excessive
exercise. 9.5 out of 10 people who lose weight through dieting gain back all of their weight
within 1-5 years; half of them gain back to a weight that’s above their starting weight. More
worrisome though is that dieting is associated with higher rates of depression and eating
disorders and increased health problems related to weight cycling. Intuitive eating and the
health-at-every size paradigms are recommended as alternatives to diets for people looking to
improve their health and overall well-being. 5

5
Sociocultural ideas and Dieting points available at https://www.eatingdisorderhope.com/information/eating-
disorder
 COMMON SYMPTOMS OF AN EATING DISORDER

Emotional and behavioral

 In general, behaviors and attitudes that indicate that weight loss, dieting, and control
of food are becoming primary concerns
 Preoccupation with weight, food, calories, carbohydrates, fat grams, and dieting
 Refusal to eat certain foods, progressing to restrictions against whole categories of
food (e.g., no carbohydrates, etc.)
 Appears uncomfortable eating around others
 Food rituals (e.g. eats only a particular food or food group [e.g. condiments],
excessive chewing, doesn’t allow foods to touch)
 Skipping meals or taking small portions of food at regular meals
 Any new practices with food or fad diets, including cutting out entire food groups (no
sugar, no carbs, no dairy, vegetarianism/veganism)
 Withdrawal from usual friends and activities
 Frequent dieting
 Extreme concern with body size and shape 
 Frequent checking in the mirror for perceived flaws in appearance
 Extreme mood swings

Physical 

 Noticeable fluctuations in weight, both up and down

 Stomach cramps, other non-specific gastrointestinal complaints (constipation, acid
reflux, etc.)
 Menstrual irregularities — missing periods or only having a period while on hormonal
contraceptives (this is not considered a “true” period)
 Difficulties concentrating
 Abnormal laboratory findings (anemia, low thyroid and hormone levels, low
potassium, low white and red blood cell counts)
 Dizziness, especially upon standing
 Fainting/syncope
 Feeling cold all the time
 Sleep problems

 Cuts and calluses across the top of finger joints (a result of inducing vomiting)
 Dental problems, such as enamel erosion, cavities, and tooth sensitivity
 Dry skin and hair, and brittle nails
 Swelling around area of salivary glands
 Fine hair on body (lanugo)
 Cavities, or discoloration of teeth, from vomiting
 Muscle weakness
 Yellow skin (in context of eating large amounts of carrots)
 Cold, mottled hands and feet or swelling of feet
 Poor wound healing
 Impaired immune functioning6

6
Symptoms available at https://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/warning-signs-and-symptoms
 DIAGNOSIS OF EATING DISORDER

The initial diagnosis should be made by a competent medical professional. "The medical
history is the most powerful tool for diagnosing eating disorders"(American Family
Physician). There are many medical disorders that mimic eating disorders and comorbid
psychiatric disorders. All organic causes should be ruled out prior to a diagnosis of an eating
disorder or any other psychiatric disorder. In the past 30 years eating disorders have become
increasingly conspicuous and it is uncertain whether the changes in presentation reflect a true
increase. Anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa are the most clearly defined subgroups of a
wider range of eating disorders. Many patients present with subthreshold expressions of the
two main diagnoses: others with different patterns and symptoms.

MEDICAL
The diagnostic workup typically includes complete medical and psychosocial history and
follows a rational and formulaic approach to the diagnosis. Neuroimaging
using fMRI, MRI, PET and SPECT scans have been used to detect cases in which a lesion,
tumor or other organic condition has been either the sole causative or contributory factor in
an eating disorder. "Right frontal intracerebral lesions with their close relationship to the
limbic system could be causative for eating disorders, we therefore recommend performing a
cranial MRI in all patients with suspected eating disorders" "intracranial pathology should
also be considered however certain is the diagnosis of early-onset anorexia nervosa. Second,
neuroimaging plays an important part in diagnosing early-onset anorexia nervosa, both from
a clinical and a research prospective".

PSYCHOILOGICAL
After ruling out organic causes and the initial diagnosis of an eating disorder being made by a
medical professional, a trained mental health professional aids in the assessment and
treatment of the underlying psychological components of the eating disorder and any
comorbid psychological conditions. The clinician conducts a clinical interview and may
employ various psychometric tests. Some are general in nature while others were devised
specifically for use in the assessment of eating disorders. Some of the general tests that may
be used are the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale and the Beck Depression Inventory.
longitudinal research showed that there is an increase in chance that a young adult female
would develop bulimia due to their current psychological pressure and as the person ages and
matures, their emotional problems change or are resolved and then the symptoms decline.7

7
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eating_disorder#
 TREATMENT
The main components of professional treatment for eating disorders are: physical health
management, nutritional advice and mental health management.  In addition, drug treatment,
support groups and some alternative therapies may be useful.

Physical Health Management

Although an eating disorder is a mental illness, it often has major impacts on physical health.

There are many physical complications that can result from an eating disorder. Left
unattended, these can lead to serious health problems or can even be fatal.  It is important that
physical health is monitored, preferably by a medical practitioner with experience in the area
of eating disorders. For adolescents and children with eating disorders, a paediatrician is
normally involved in the medical care.

A medical examination may involve a large number of tests.

Medical problems that may require treatment and care include anaemia, heartburn,
disturbances in heart rhythm, low bone density (osteoporosis), kidney problems, dental
problems.

Nutritional Counselling and Advice

Establishment of a well-balanced diet is essential to recovery.  For this reason dietitians or

nutritionists are usually involved in the treatment, working in conjunction with other
professionals in the treatment team.

Nutritional counselling and advice may be useful to help the person identify their fears about
food and the physical consequences of not eating well. Education about the nutritional values
of food can be beneficial particularly when the person has lost track of what ‘normal eating’
is. 

Mental Health Management

In addition to medical and dietary management, most people with eating disorders will need
some kind of therapy, counselling or psychological intervention. This section below explains
the basis of the most commonly employed approaches to mental health management for
eating disorders.
Psychotherapy

The basis of psychological treatment is in forming a trusting relationship with the therapist
and addressing pertinent issues to the person such as the thoughts, feelings and behaviours
that led to the development and maintenance of the eating disorder. This may include issues
with anxiety, depression, poor self esteem and self confidence and difficulties with
interpersonal relationships.  The treatment is ultimately aiming to empower the person to
realise their own resources to overcome their difficulties.

Psychotherapy aims to identify the psychological stresses that may have contributed to the
onset of the eating disorder. Through talking and other techniques (personal development
exercises, etc) the aim of this process is to reduce the feelings of inadequacy, low self-esteem,
negative body image and guilt etc and help people to develop their life skills.

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy

CBT has become a popular form of treatment for people experiencing eating disorders. Based
on the premise that thoughts and feelings are inter-dependent, CBT encourages people to re-
examine and challenge existing thought and behaviour patterns. Challenging distorted or
unhelpful ways of thinking can allow healthier behaviours to emerge.

In relation to eating disorders, CBT aims to change the way the person thinks about food and
themselves. It aims to identify the characteristic thoughts that reinforce disordered eating
behaviour and encourage more positive ways of thinking. Some thought patterns that CBT
may challenge include black and white thinking, magnification (of importance of events etc)
and errors in attribution (misunderstanding of the relationship between cause and effect).

Interpersonal Psychotherapy

IPT has been used successfully in the treatment of eating disorders, particularly bulimia and
binge eating problems. IPT focuses on interpersonal difficulties in the person’s life which are
considered to be the basis of the eating disorder. Generally, therapy involves three phases
including the identification of interpersonal difficulties, the development of a contract to
work on several specific issues and the assessment of changes. The therapy is usually
medium term (16-20 weeks).

In the initial stage, the therapist will generally explore the history of eating problems,
interpersonal relationships prior to and after the development of an eating disorder,
significant life events and self-esteem and depression issues. Major problem areas are
identified and typically fall into four categories; grief, role disputes with other people, role
transitions and interpersonal skills. A therapeutic contract is developed between the client and
the therapist based on the major problem areas in the person’s life.Mindfulness traces its
origins to Buddhism.

Dialectical Behavioural Therapy (DBT)

DBT is also a popular form of therapy used to assist people with eating disorders. Based on
an emotion regulation model, the idea is that eating disorders (and disordered eating) are a
way to deal with emotional distress in the absence of more appropriate coping strategies.
DBT aims to help people manage, process and deal with their emotions in a healthy and
productive way. Most studies so far have looked at people with Bulimia Nervosa and Binge
Eating Disorder.

Intensive Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy (ISTDP)

ISTDP is a brief, focused therapy designed to help people deal with a number of mental
health issues. It uses an interactive approach where the professional and the client work
together to identify unhelpful ‘defences’ and emotional triggers that can lead to disordered
eating and other problems. ISTDP aims to help the person focus on how they experience
emotions, and skills are then developed to help the person change the way they think, feel and
behave.

Mindfulness Based Therapy

Mindfulness based therapies have in common an emphasis on the practice of mindful

meditation, mindful eating, yoga and a range of other techniques, aimed at increasing
awareness and acceptance of eating behaviour and the self. Unlike CBT, the aim of
mindfulness is 'letting go' or disengaging with negative thoughts, rather than learning to
challenge them.

Mindfulness based therapies include Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT),

Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy
(MBCT), Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) and Mindfulness Based Eating Awareness
Therapy (MB-EAT). All these approaches have been investigated empirically and have been
found to benefit individuals with eating disorders.

Family Based Therapy

Family based therapy (FBT) is based on the idea that changes within the family unit will
result in a reduction of eating disordered behaviour.  It usually involves the people that are
living with or are very close to the person with the eating disorder. This commonly includes
parents, siblings and/or spouses, although it can also involve grandparents, aunts or other
close carers.
The family, as a unit, is encouraged to develop ways to cope with issues that may be causing
concern including, but not limited to, the eating disorder. The success of this treatment is
dependent upon the family being willing to participate, often in weekly therapy sessions for a
number of weeks or months, and make changes to their behaviours. Family therapy can also
offer education to other family members about the eating disorder and how better to support
the person they care about. Overall the family is encouraged to develop healthy ways to deal
with the eating disorder.

Family based therapy does not imply that family factors were involved in the development of
the eating disorder, but  acknowledges that every family has issues that are difficult to deal
with, and that the family can work together to help overcome these issues.  As a part of a
person’s recovery from an eating disorder, it can be useful to address issues in the family
context such as conflict or tension between members, communication problems, difficulty
expressing feelings, substance abuse or physical or sexual abuse.8

8
https://www.eatingdisorders.org.au/eating-disorders/treatment/types-of-treatment
 OUTCOME
Outcome estimates are complicated by non-uniform criteria used by various studies, but for
anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge eating disorder, there seems to be general
agreement that full recovery rates are in the 50% to 85% range, with larger proportions of
people experiencing at least partial remission. The outcomes of eating disorders (ED) vary
among the cases. For many, it can be a lifelong struggle or it can be overcome within months.
In the United States, twenty million women and ten million men have an eating disorder at
least once in their lifetime. The mortality rate for those with anorexia nervosa is 5.4 per 1000
individuals per year. Roughly 1.3 deaths were due to suicide. A person who is or had been in
an inpatient setting had a rate of 4.6 deaths per 1000. Of individuals with bulimia nervosa
about 2 persons per 1000 persons die per year and among those with EDNOS about 3.3 per
1000 people die per year.

 Miscarriages: Pregnant women with a Binge Eating Disorder have shown to have a
greater chance of having a miscarriage compared to pregnant women with any other
eating disorders. According to a study done, out of a group of pregnant women being
evaluated, 46.7% of the pregnancies ended with a miscarriage in women that were
diagnosed with BED, with 23.0% in the control. In the same study, 21.4% of women
diagnosed with Bulimia Nervosa had their pregnancies end with miscarriages and only
17.7% of the controls.
 Relapse: An individual who is in remission from BN and EDNOS (Eating Disorder
Not Otherwise Specified) is at a high risk of falling back into the habit of self-harming
themselves. Factors such as high stress regarding their job, pressures from society, as
well as other occurrences that inflict stress on a person, can push a person back to what
they feel will ease the pain. A study tracked a group of selected people that were either
diagnosed with BN or EDNOS for 60 months. After the 60 months were complete, the
researchers recorded whether or not the patients were suffering from a relapse. The
results found that the probability of a person previously diagnosed with EDNOS had a
41% chance of relapsing; a person with BN had a 47% chance.
 Attachment insecurity: People who are showing signs of attachment anxiety will
most likely have trouble communicating their emotional status as well as having trouble
seeking effective social support. Signs that a person has adopted this symptom include
not showing recognition to their caregiver or when he/she is feeling pain. In a clinical
sample, it is clear that at the pretreatment step of a patient's recovery, more severe eating
disorder symptoms directly corresponds to higher attachment anxiety. The more this
symptom increases, the more difficult it is to achieve eating disorder reduction prior to
treatment.
Anorexia Nervosa symptoms include the increasing chance of getting osteoporosis. This
disease causes the bones of an individual to become brittle, weak, and low in density.
Thinning of the hair as well as dry hair and skin is also very common. The muscles of the
heart will also start to change if no treatment is inflicted on the patient. This causes the heart
to have an abnormally slow heart rate along with low blood pressure. Heart failure becomes a
major consideration when this begins to occur. Muscles throughout the body begin to lose
their strength. This will cause the individual to begin feeling faint, drowsy, and weak. Along
with these symptoms, the body will begin to grow a layer of hair called lanugo. The human
body does this in response to the lack of heat and insulation due to the low percentage of
body fat.
Bulimia nervosa symptoms include heart problems like an irregular heartbeat that can lead to
heart failure and death may occur. This occurs because of the electrolyte imbalance that is a
result of the constant binge and purge process. The probability of a gastric rupture increases.
A gastric rupture is when there is a sudden rupture of the stomach lining that can be fatal.The
acids that are contained in the vomit can cause a rupture in the esophagus as well as tooth
decay. As a result, to laxative abuse, irregular bowel movements may occur along with
constipation. Sores along the lining of the stomach called peptic ulcers begin to appear and
the chance of developing pancreatitis increases.
Binge eating symptoms include high blood pressure, which can cause heart disease if it is not
treated. Many patients recognize an increase in the levels of cholesterol. The chance of being
diagnosed with gallbladder disease increases, which affects an individual’s digestive tract.9

9
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eating_disorder
 BIBLIOGRAPHY

OTHER REFERENCES:

 Eating Disorder available at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eating_disorder

 Classification of Eating disorder available at
http://www.clevelandclinicmeded.com/medicalpubs/diseasemanagement/psychiatry-
psychology/eating-disorders/
 Explanations available at https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/eating-
disorders/symptoms-causes/syc-20353603
 Causes available at https://eatingdisorder.org/eating-disorder-information/underlying-
causes/
 Symptoms available at https://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/warning-signs-and-
symptoms
 Trauma and Coping skill available at
https://www.eatingdisorderhope.com/information/eating-disorder
 Sociocultural ideas and Dieting points available at
https://www.eatingdisorderhope.com/information/eating-disorder
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eating_disorder#
 https://www.eatingdisorders.org.au/eating-disorders/treatment/types-of-treatment
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eating_disorder