Anorexia Nervosa

Anorexia nervosa literally means "loss of appetite". This is misleading because persons who suffer from the psychiatric disorder are, in fact, not suffering from loss of appetite. Instead, they are unwilling or unable to maintain a normal body weight for their age and height. This is typically due to a fear of weight gain and a fear of being "fat" when in reality the individual is severely underweight. Anorexia Nervosa is often characterized by self-starvation, food preoccupation and rituals, compulsive exercising, and often an absence of menstrual cycles.

Causes of Anorexia Nervosa include:

• Refusal to maintain body weight at or above a minimally normal weight for age and height.
• Intense fear of gaining weight or becoming fat, even though underweight.
• Disturbance in the way in which one's body weight or shape is experienced, undue influence of body weight or shape on self-evaluation, or denial of the seriousness of the current low body weight.
  

Some of the core symptoms of Anorexia Nervosa include the following:

• Absence of menstruation
• Depressed Mood
• Somatic/Sexual Dysfunction
• Guilt/Obsession
• Anxious/Fearful/Dependent Personality
• Behavior that isolates them from others
• Lack of emotion
• Immaturity
• Tendency toward an excess of exercise or physical activity
• Irregular heartbeat
• Fatigue
• Irritability
  

If you experience five or more of these symptoms, there is a very good possibility that you may have Anorexia Nervosa.

Contact us to schedule an initial evaluation. Qualified participants will receive study related care at no charge and there is no need for health insurance.