Anorexia Information: What Is Anorexia?

Anorexia nervosa means “appetite loss of nervous origins,” but anorexics are really very hungry. An anorexic has a phobia of being fat, food and eating, and a fear of having a normal body weight.

Anorexics aim to eat as few calories as possible, or burn more calories than have been ingested by exercising. Anorexics tend to think about food, cook and feed other people all of the time, but are terrified of giving in to their own desire for food. Anorexia nervosa has the highest death rate of any psychiatric condition, and although it’s mainly women who are affected by anorexia, men can be anorexic too.

Signs and Symptoms of Anorexia: How Can I Tell If Someone Has Anorexia?

• Anorexia Symptoms: Weight loss
• Anorexia Symptoms: Periods become irregular or stop altogether
• Anorexia Symptoms: Skipping meals, eating very little
• Anorexia Symptoms: Being underweight but believing you are fat
• Anorexia Symptoms: Extreme exercising to burn calories
• Anorexia Symptoms: Smoking or chewing gum
• Anorexia Symptoms: Lying about weight-loss or meals eaten
• Anorexia Symptoms: Loss of libido
• Anorexia Symptoms: Obsession with food, cooking for other people
• Anorexia Symptoms: In males, erections and wet dreams stop, testicles shrink

Understanding Anorexia: Causes of Anorexia

Anorexia often starts at puberty. Growth in nutritional advances means that girls are experiencing puberty much earlier, often as young as ten or eleven when the average age used to be about 18. This means that women are experiencing sexuality at an age when they lack the emotional intelligence to understand or cope with it. Changing hormones generate fat and begin menstruation, often creating a sense of loss of control.

Research shows early puberty is linked to destructive behaviour in girls. In the face of this inner conflict, starving may be a way of denying approaching adulthood, a method of gaining control of at least one part of your life.

Anorexia may also be linked to social pressure to have an unrealistic body shape, sexual abuse or childhood trauma, gaining a large amount of weight at puberty, and other major life events. It may also be caused by having a family who is hostile, plagued by addiction or overly obsessed with weight.

Anorexia Danger Signs: Health Effects and Risks of Anorexia

• Anorexia Risks: Tiredness, inability to sleep well, cope with normal activities or think about anything but food or calories
• Anorexia Risks: Feeling weak and cold due to slow metabolism
• Anorexia Risks: Constipation
• Anorexia Risks: Liver damage
• Anorexia Risks: Stunted growth
• Anorexia Risks: Thin, brittle bones, eventual osteoporosis
• Anorexia Risks: Damage to internal organs
• Anorexia Risks: Loss of periods, possible infertility
• Anorexia Risks: Anxiety and depression
• Anorexia Risks: Obsessive behaviour or perfectionism
• Anorexia Risks: Unhealthy over-dependency on parents
• Anorexia Risks: In severe cases, death

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To find out more about eating disorders, click here: Eating Disorders Information