Anorexia
For an anorexic dieting has become an obsession and the obsession has become a disease. Anorexia Nervosa is a puzzling and cruel disease affecting thousands and thousands of young and healthy women and adolescents (Bruch 3). Anorexia Nervosa is an eating disorder characterized by the pursuit of thinness (Garner & Garfinkel 339). Anorexics willingly undergo the ordeal of starvation even to the point of death (Bruch 4). Anorexics are people who are obsessed with food and who constantly fight the urge to eat (Marx 22). Anorexia Nervosa strikes mostly adolescent girls. Most estimates place the disease incidence at 1 out of every 250 adolescent girls (Levenkron 1-2). It is important to get the anorexic help immediately. If they do not get help, they can die. There are different ways to help an anorexic. There is therapy for example, family therapy, individual therapy, psychotherapy therapy and what seems to be the most effective; group therapy. If the anorexic is in serious need and therapy is not working, they will be hospitalized. Medicines are often at help to an anorexic. Therapy alone can cure an anorexic patient. Anorexics feel that therapy in general can intervene or cause a deadly threat against robbing them of th
Finally, the last type of therapy is group therapy. There are different types of group therapy. Psychodynamic group therapy, psychoeducational and cognitive-behavioral group therapy, family support groups, creative therapy, art therapy, psychodrama groups, and self-help groups. The role of group therapy is made to address some of the problems anorexia nervosa cause - loneliness, isolation, and hopelessness. Group therapy helps with self-esteem. Patients gain hope by meeting others who have had the disease (Marx 175-178). Other types of group therapies are creative therapy, which is movement or dance therapy to help patients get in touch with their bodies. Art therapy lets patients draw or sculpt to express feelings about their bodies and relationships with others. In psychodrama, groups' patients can act out of scenes, playing different roles to carry on conversations or demonstrate feelings. Finally, there are women's issues groups which are concerns relating to sexuality and the role of women in society (Marx 178). 8. Delusion thinking develops, especially concerning body size and quantities of food ingested. 7. Disinterest in sexuality is often a personality characteristic of the anorexia nervosa syndrome and results from: Some medicines are used to try to treat some symptoms of anorexia nervosa. Antidepressant medications are used along with antianxiety medications, Antipsychotic medications. Antidepressant medications include clomipramine and amitriptyline. Clomipramine and amitriptyline are used to treat obsessive compulsive disorder. These medications can improve depressive moods. When this happens patients' attitudes may improve not just about eating but also about life. Antidepressants do cause risks such as lowered blood pressure or with the heart. Antianxiety medicine is given to an anorexic that is highly anxious. This medicine is used for small minority of anorexic patients who have such extreme anxiety about eating. Some side effects of taking antianxity medications are sedation, dizziness, highly sensitive feelings, and serious risk of addiction. Doctors and therapists have not had much luck with antipsychotic medicines. Antipsychotics can cause weight gain. However, this ! Some patterns that have been identified in certain eating disordered families include an overemphasis on appearance, social isolation, emotional rigidity, and the inability to resolve conflicts. There is no such thing as a typical eating disordered family. The same dynamic that triggers an eating disorder in one person may allow another to thrive (Marx 30). Nervosa and Bulimia. New York: The Haworth Press, 1989. Another point of view, of why anorexia arises, is the female's refusal to be an adult. It is a disorder of puberty, an attempt to stay a girl, a denial of femininity (Orbach 24). Anorexia represents a way to avoid maturity, not just physical or sexual development, but also psychological and social. Achieving thinness lets the anorexic turn back the clock and have a childlike physical appearance (Marx 31). Family support groups are led by a social worker. These groups involve members of anywhere from 5 to 10 families of eating disorders patients. Families learn how to be supportive of their child, how to set limits, and how to handle problems. People share experiences and trade advice, giving each other emotional support (Marx 177).
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Approximate Word count = 2575
Approximate Pages = 10 (250 words per page double spaced)
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