Anorexia Nervosa

Anorexia nervosa is a disease in which an individual refuses to maintain a normal body weight for age and height and weighs 85% or less than what is expected for her age and height. The anorexic individual denies the dangers of low weight and is terrified of becoming fat, even though s/he is markedly underweight. S/he will report feeling fat even when very thin. The anorectic experiences disturbance in body weight or shape and there is undue influence of body weight or shape on self-evaluation, as well as denial of the seriousness of the current low body weight. In women, menstrual periods stop or do not begin in girls. In men, levels of sex hormones fall. Anorexia nervosa often includes depression, irritability, withdrawal, and peculiar behaviors such as compulsive rituals, strange eating habits, and division of food into “good/safe” and “bad/dangerous” categories.

Other symptoms include: hair loss, growth of lanugo (fine hair growing all over the body, including on the face), lowered body temperature and heart rate, low blood pressure, feeling cold, poor circulation, dry skin, brittle nails, insomnia, excessive exercising directed to weight loss, obsessional focus on food and calories, loneliness, social isolation, withdrawn behavior, loss of the ability to concentrate on anything else, low self-esteem, and self-hatred.