Eating Disorders
Eating disorders are serious mental health conditions characterized by abnormal eating habits and a preoccupation with body weight and shape. Common types include anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge-eating disorder. These disorders can have severe physical and emotional consequences and often require a combination of psychological, nutritional, and medical interventions for treatment.
8 Key excerpts on "Eating Disorders"
- Amy E. Wenzel(Author)
- 2017(Publication Date)
- SAGE Publications, Inc(Publisher)
...Stacey C. Cahn Stacey C. Cahn Cahn, Stacey C. Francine R. Broder Francine R. Broder Broder, Francine R. Eating Disorders: Psychological Factors Eating Disorders: Psychological factors 1268 1270 Eating Disorders: Psychological Factors Eating Disorders (EDs) are serious mental health disorders characterized by disordered eating behaviors, overevaluation of weight and shape, and preoccupation with food. Although disordered eating is often the most conspicuous symptom, at their core, EDs are fundamentally psychological disorders. This entry briefly reviews important psychological factors (cognitive and emotional) that are relevant to the onset and maintenance of the three primary EDs: (1) anorexia nervosa (AN), (2) bulimia nervosa (BN), and (3) binge eating disorder (BED). Cognitive Factors Individuals with Eating Disorders have elevated levels of alexithymia, which is characterized by difficulty in identifying thoughts and feelings, and in differentiating between feelings and bodily sensations. It is theorized that individuals with Eating Disorders experience emotions as unacceptable and may use disordered eating as a means to cope with their thoughts or feelings. Clinical perfectionism is a personality trait that consists of unrelenting, unattainable standards and mistake intolerance. Clinical perfectionism is believed to play a role in both the etiology and the maintenance of EDs and is a specific risk factor for AN; research suggests that high levels of perfectionism generally persist after recovery from EDs. Whereas general, or multidimensional, perfectionism can indicate a positive striving for excellence, clinical perfectionism entails self-evaluation based on self-imposed standards that are unrealistic and unrelenting. Whereas general perfectionism may confer an advantage in many professional and personal domains, clinical perfectionism can ultimately lead to impaired mood and functioning as failures are inevitable and continually met with self-criticism...
eBook - ePubPsychology of Eating
From Biology to Culture to Policy
- Emily Crews Splane, Neil E. Rowland, Anaya Mitra(Authors)
- 2019(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
...CHAPTER 11 Eating Disorders and Treatment After reading this chapter you will be able to understand the clinical conditions of anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa recognize personality and behavioral differences and similarities associated with anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa know the leading biological, psychological, and sociocultural explanations for Eating Disorders describe the most effective contemporary treatments for Eating Disorders and the issues surrounding treatment appreciate animal models of Eating Disorders. Estimates indicate that between 1% and 3% of the American population (roughly 8 million people) suffer with a diagnosed eating disorder, and many more suffer from subclinical (less severe) disordered eating (Hudson et al., 2007; Watson & Bulik, 2013). In comparison with the percentage of the population that is overweight or obese (~70%), the incidence of these Eating Disorders may seem low; however, Eating Disorders are severely debilitating and have the highest death rate of any psychiatric illness (Watson & Bulik, 2013). Further, the frequency of Eating Disorders is much higher among certain groups of people, including college students, actors, models, and athletes participating in “appearance sports” (sports with an emphasis on appearance, weight, speed, or diet, e.g., dance, gymnastics, swimming, running, and wrestling; Prouty, Protinsky & Canady, 2002; Sundgot-Borgen & Torstveit, 2004; Zucker et al., 1999). The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Health Disorders (5th ed.; DSM-5) provides criteria for the diagnosis of anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa (American Psychiatric Association [APA], 2013). The diagnosis of binge-eating disorder was added to the most recent edition of the DSM, with estimates that this disorder affects twice the number of people compared with anorexia or bulimia...
eBook - ePub- Gordon Claridge, Caroline Davis(Authors)
- 2013(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
...Clinically, the behaviours that define these disorders are very similar. Moreover, very similar biological mechanisms can explain the progression from ‘use’ to ‘abuse’ that we see in both disorders – in the case of drugs, from a recreational habit to a state of pathological dependence; in anorexia nervosa, from casual dieting to a life-threatening refusal to eat; and in bulimia nervosa to the increasing inability to resist large quantities of food. Finally, there is support for a common psychobiological vulnerability. We know, for instance, that individuals tend to ‘self-medicate’ their affective disturbances with a variety of rewarding behaviours based, to some extent, on the specific effects of each (Chutuape & Dewit, 1995; Khantzian, 1997; Markau et al., 1998). Here, it is interesting to consider why some individuals choose nicotine, others alcohol, and others food to regulate mood. Clearly, personality, environment, and sociocultural factors have considerable influence in the choices that are made. The obsessional, perfectionistic, anxious, and conforming nature that characterizes many anorexic patients makes it easier to understand the compelling attraction of appearance-enhancing behaviours, such as dieting and exercise, since there are many social and psychological rewards that accrue to those who can achieve the cultural standards of thinness. The Pathophysiology of Eating Disorders However, in order to understand the motivation to continue these behaviours beyond the point of body-image improvements – and in the face of life-threatening medical complications – we must move beyond psychosocial explanations. When a person begins to diet, what often starts as a casual attempt to lose a few pounds can become, in certain vulnerable individuals, a time-consuming preoccupation with weight and body shape. Indeed, for some, the initial loss of weight is even involuntary, stemming from a mood or illness-induced absence of appetite...
eBook - ePubMental Illness Defined
Continuums, Regulation, and Defense
- Brad Bowins(Author)
- 2016(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
...Chapter 8 Eating Disorders Due to how profoundly food consumption, and related reproductive strategies, impact evolutionary fitness, it is understandable that eating behavior and disorders comprise a naturally occurring entity. Anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge eating disorder (BED) represent the current Eating Disorders, based on DSM-5 (American Psychiatric Association, 2013) and ICD-10 focusing on anorexia and bulimia (World Health Organization, 1992). Interestingly, the most common “eating” disorder, obesity, is not even included, although ICD-10 does list overeating associated with other psychological disturbances (World Health Organization, 1992). Obesity is present in about 1 in 3 Americans and 1 in 4 Canadians, and about half the population in these countries is overweight (Ogden et al, 2006; Taubes, 2011; Taylor, 2012). Excessive weight applies to children as well, with 1 in 10 Canadian children suffering from obesity, and at least this many in America (Ogden et al, 2006; Taubes, 2011; Taylor, 2012). Obesity is defined as a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 30 and over (Maskarinec et al, 2006; Taubes, 2011). BMI is weight in kilograms divided by the square of height in meters; in essence it evaluates weight relative to height (Maskarinec et al, 2006; Taubes, 2011). BMI does not directly measure the percent of body fat, but higher values mean more weight for the given height. Unless a person is extremely muscular, higher values indicate a weight and fat problem. A BMI of 25-29.9 means that a person is overweight, and many more people tend to be overweight than obese, with upwards of half the population in the developed world being somewhat overweight (Maskarinec et al, 2006; Ogden et al, 2006; Taubes, 2011). Considering how common excessive weight and obesity is, the role of psychological factors in its initiation and maintenance, and psychological problems arising from it, this occurrence rep-resents one of the most common mental health problems there is...
eBook - ePubBody Image in Eating Disorders
Clinical Diagnosis and Integrative Approach to Psychological Treatment
- Bernadetta Izydorczyk(Author)
- 2021(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
...Psychiatric diagnosis is not a sufficient criterion for diagnosing the pathogenesis of Eating Disorders. It requires a multifactorial approach to neurobiological and psychosocial causes showing the relationship between mental disorders and Eating Disorders, for example, the occurrence of symptoms of psychological anorexia (Södersten et al., 2019). For this reason, a clinical psychological diagnosis including the multifactorial determinants of eating behaviors becomes necessary to determine the direction of treatment and psychotherapy (Södersten et al., 2019). The psychological profiles of patients with Eating Disorders and the diagnostic criteria for anorexia and bulimia nervosa present in the ICD - 10 (World Health Organization, 1993), ICD - 11 (World Health Organization, 2018), and DSM - V (American Psychiatric Association, 2013) emphasize the etiological importance of the relationship between cognitive body image distortions, fear of gaining weight (fat phobia), restrictive eating behaviors (diets), excessive physical activity, and impulsive (bulimic) behaviors consisting in purging the body without existing health indications (e.g., inducing vomiting; Vartanian et al., 2018; Wertheim et al., 2004). Both theorists and researchers have confirmed the multifactorial model of the determinants of restrictive and impulsive (bulimic) eating behaviors, emphasizing the mediating role of body image distortions and dissatisfaction in their formation (Terhoeven et al., 2020 ; Vartanian et al., 2018; Wertheim et al., 2004). The mediating role of body image is consistent with the multifactorial cognitive models of the development of body dissatisfaction (Cash & Smolak, 2011) and its role in eating behaviors (Wertheim Thompson 2004; Rodgers et al., 2020 ; Vartanian et al., 2018; Wertheim et al., 2004)...
eBook - ePubExercise and Eating Disorders
An Ethical and Legal Analysis
- Simona Giordano(Author)
- 2010(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
...1 Eating Disorders Symptoms and facts Anorexia and bulimia nervosa: The terms This chapter offers a comprehensive and accessible account of Eating Disorders. The term ‘Eating Disorders’ refers to a broad group of disorders, which includes anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, obesity, binge eating, extreme dieting, fasting–bingeing cycles and other forms of subclinical anorexia and bulimia nervosa. By ‘Eating Disorders’ I will, however, mainly intend anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa (I will often use ‘anorexia’ and ‘bulimia’ to refer to ‘anorexia nervosa’ and ‘bulimia nervosa’), which are those eating orders mainly considered in the clinical literature. 1 I shall, however, also discuss briefly what these other Eating Disorders, such as binge eating, are. The points raised on anorexia and bulimia nervosa can help with a more general understanding of other (sometimes less extreme) forms of disordered eating. Anorexia nervosa The term ‘anorexia nervosa’ was coined by William Gull in 1873. In 1888 this illustration appeared in his article ‘Anorexia Nervosa’, published in the Lancet. 2 However, this phenomenon was noticed much earlier by Richard Morton, in London...
eBook - ePubFuture Work in Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology
A research agenda
- Mitchell J. Prinstein, Mitchell J. Prinstein(Authors)
- 2018(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
...In terms of treatment research, there would be value in conducting more research on maintenance factors for eating pathology, rigorous treatment trials that involve credible placebo interventions and comparisons between the most effective treatments, effectiveness trials, research on novel treatments for recently recognized Eating Disorders, and research on the dissemination and broad implementation of effective treatments. Approximately 10% of young women meet criteria for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed. [ DSM–IV ]; American Psychiatric Association, 1994) anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, or eating disorder not otherwise specified (EDNOS; Hudson, Hiripi, Pope, & Kessler, 2007; Stice, Marti, Shaw, & Jaconis, 2009; Wade, Bergin, Tiggemann, Bulik, & Fairburn, 2006). Anorexia nervosa is characterized by (a) emaciation from caloric restriction or excessive exercise, (b) fear of becoming fat, (c) disturbed perception of body weight/shape or undue influence of weight or shape on self-evaluation, (d) denial of the seriousness of low body weight, and (e) amenorrhea (for females). Bulimia nervosa is marked by (a) binge eating (consumption of an excessively large amount of food in a brief period that is characterized by subjective loss of control), (b) unhealthy compensatory behaviors to prevent weight gain (e.g., vomiting or use of laxatives), and (c) undue influence of weight or shape on self-evaluation. EDNOS reflects clinically significant eating pathology that takes a different form than anorexia nervosa or bulimia nervosa, including binge eating disorder, purging disorder and subthreshold anorexia nervosa, and bulimia nervosa and binge eating disorder (Stice, Marti, et al., 2009)...
eBook - ePub- Linda Smolak, Michael P. Levine(Authors)
- 2015(Publication Date)
- Wiley-Blackwell(Publisher)
...The chapter contains three major sections. The first focuses on the role of body image and disordered eating as definitional criteria for and core features of EDs. The second section considers body image and disordered eating as risk factors for EDs. Finally, the question of causes of body image dysfunction and disordered eating is given some attention. Throughout the chapter, we give some consideration to why body image and disordered eating perhaps should not be considered critical to our understanding of EDs. Negative Body Image and Disordered Eating as Criteria The DSM-5 section on Feeding and Eating Disorders begins with the statement: “Feeding and Eating Disorders are characterized by a persistent disturbance of eating or eating-related behavior that results in the altered consumption or absorption of food and that significantly impairs physical health or psychosocial functioning” (p. 329). Thus, in keeping with the American Psychiatric Association’s definition of a “mental disorder” in DSM-5 (American Psychiatric Association, 2013, p. 20), some aspect of eating that is not culturally normative or approved, and that is disabling and/or distressing, is a symptom or sign of every eating disorder listed in the DSM-5. Disordered eating ranges from eating nonnutritive substances (pica) to severe food restriction (as in AN or avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder) to binge eating (as in BED or BN). An eating disorder is “persistent,” so in pica and rumination disorder, the disordered eating symptom must be present for at least a month. In BN and BED, the binge eating and purging behaviors must continue for 3 months. However, the severe food restriction that marks both AN and avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID) and results in physical symptoms is not time delineated in DSM-5...
