Mental health articles

It is important to remember that, although many people who develop anorexia nervosa and bulimia do so following dieting, dieting itself does not cause an eating disorder. Hetherington asserts that it may be the trigger but that there isusually a range of other factors which precipitate the occurrence of the disorder.

The person who develops anorexia nervosa is often described as a perfectionist who is very self-critical. They may also be described as high achievers, workinghard at school to achieve good grades. They have a strong desire to please others and therefore have often been obedient children. The person usually has low selfesteem with symptoms of depression or anxiety. They may be socially withdrawn,have a distorted body image (due to previous dietary issues or comments from family members) with a lack of sense of identity and wanting to regress back into childhood. The restriction of food may be motivated by severe self-discipline,competitiveness and a wish to punish themselves.Ballet and fashion modelling are said to be some of the professions that canpredispose a person to anorexia nervosa due to the need to be physically fit and veryslim.

However, it is not known whether a person who may be at risk of developing anorexia nervosa is attracted to these professions or whether the demands of these professions in some way provokes a desire to be overly thin and so precipitates the development of anorexia nervosa. The family of theperson with anorexia nervosa has been described as overprotective, very rigid, witha lack of conflict resolution, preoccupation with food, obsessive and perfectionisttraits and high expectations of all members of the family. Theremay also be a history of childhood physical or sexual abuse, particularly seen inmales.

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