AnorexiaBy: Mariella Marie

*This a project for a high school AP Psychology course. This is a fictionalized account of having a

psychological ailment. For questions about this blog project or its content please email the teacher

Chris Jocham: jocham@fultonschools.org

About Anorexia

Anorexia Nervosa is an eating disorder in which someone takes dangerous measures to lose weight. These measures may include: skipping meals, using laxatives, avoiding food, intense and compulsive exercising, and eating food in unreasonably small quantities.

Symptoms

• Fear of gaining weight, even though underweight

• Intense resistance to being at healthy body weight for age and height

• Infrequent or absent period, or delayed onset of first period

• Denial of the severity of disorder

Treatment

• Treatment of anorexia requires a specific program that involves three main phases:

• restoring weight that has been lost to severe dieting and purging

• treating any psychological disturbances, such as distortion of body image, low self-esteem, and interpersonal or emotional conflicts; and

• achieving long-term remission and rehabilitation, or full recovery.

Who’s At Risk?

• Females make up 95% of the anorexic population

• Most are also teenage girls

• Caucasians more affected than any other race

• More common in middle and upper classes

According to the statistics these girls are at higher risk for

developing Anorexia Nervosa.

Causes

• Dysfunction in hypothalamus which controls metabolism

• Feeding problems or general under eating as an infant

• Maternal depressive symptoms

• Peer pressure to look a certain way

• Poor self image

Health Risks

• Low blood pressure

• Abnormally slow heart rate

• Constipation

• Abdominal pain

• Absence of menstrual periods

Low Blood Pressure Abdominal PainAbsence of Period

Health Risks (cont.)

• Decreased urination

• Potassium deficiency

• Bone density loss

• Anemia

• Electrolyte imbalance

Anemia

Bone Density Loss Potassium Defficiency

Alanis Morissette Mary-Kate Olsen Victoria Beckham

How Anorexia Affects Me…

Having Anorexia, I feel unconfident in myself and have very low self-esteem..

Sometimes I’m scared I might die because of my condition, but I’m even more afraid of being overweight.

I Have a strong aversion to food, I have since I was a little girl.

I hate looking in the mirror…

Food is all around bad for me, I don’t even like to as much as smell it.

When I do eat, I eat bland foods like rice and crackers.

The only beverages I drink are Right Size Smoothies and water.

Along with my eating disorder comes depression…its hard when you’re never satisfied with yourself as you are.