Savchenko
Natalia



   The discussion will be on an eating disorder, Anorexia Nervosa,  that  is
a huge concern of our society.  It is an eating disorder that is  caused  by
a complex  mixture  of  social,  psychological  and  physical  problems  and
consists of various conditions that involve an obsession with  food,  weight
and appearance to the degree where  a  person’s  health,  relationships  and
usual everyday activities are threatened to fail.
     The statistics  are  dramatic.  Anorexia  has  become  more  common  in
developing countries in the past 20 years. 50% of Anorexics  recover  fully,
another 20% only recover physically and the reported mortality rate is  20%.
Each year, approximately one out of every  200  females  adolescents  become
anorexic.  About 90-95% of all people who suffer from Anorexia  Nervosa  are
females. The most vulnerable to this  eating  disorder  are  the  ambitious,
achieving girls between the ages of 12 and 25.  However,  in  industrialized
countries, the condition is becoming more prevalent in all  age  groups  and
both sexes . The main trait of anorexia is when body  weight  is  more  then
15% lower then the expected one. It is caused  by  fear  of  gaining  weight
that embraces excessive preoccupation with food and abnormal eating  habits.

     Basically, it is an addiction that results  in  successive  changes  in
mind and body. The progression of  these  changes  follows  an  orderly  and
predictable path  from  health  to  mental  and  physical  devastation.  The
addiction that we are talking about is a result of self-starvation  process.
This means that during that process a group of substances called  endorphins
is produced by the body that is very addictive. These substances play  major
role in causing the behavioral and mental  changes  characteristic  to  this
condition and are responsible for  perpetuating  and  maintaining  anorectic
behavior throughout all stages of addictive process.
  The addiction concept of Anorexia Nervosa is made up of 2 principles:  One
states that much of the anorexics actions like  behavior  and  thinking  are
governed by the mechanism of reward. That is a person  will  self-administer
by engaging in such behavior whereas  a  non-addictive  substance  will  not
cause a person to automatically continue  self-administration  in  order  to
get some  pleasant  experience.  The  second  is  that  there  is  a  direct
causative relationship between the state of eating and  the  state  of  mood
and feelings. Which means that non-eating and weight loss  promote  a  sense
of well-being or improvement of depressed mood via release of endorphins.
     Two types of  Anorexia  Nervosa  are  recognized:  first  is  a  simple
restriction of food. People usually starve  themselves  despite  the  hunger
pains that they suffer. The second type includes  restriction  of  food  and
either regular purging or binging and purging together. It is done by  means
of laxatives, appetite suppressants or even self-induced vomiting.
     The distinguishing dietetic trends are consumption  of  low-fat  foods,
vegetarianism and avoidance of all the sweet  products.  Moreover,  dramatic
reduction in caloric intake takes place that is many times accentuated by  a
significant increase in activity. Often an aversion to foods  is  developed.
Such eating behavior is a cause of severe lack  of  macronutrients  such  as
fats, proteins and carbohydrates as well as minerals and vitamins that  make
it impossible for an organism to maintain itself in good health.
     Anorexia Nervosa  also  falls  into  a  category  of  mental  illnesses
because it has been found that this condition is many times  accompanied  by
other mental illness. Common for all the anorexics is that food becomes  the
main object of their lives and it makes them feel as if  it  was  impossible
to live without it. Food becomes a dominant in  all  the  daily  regulations
and judgments. And unlike other eating disorders suffering from anorexia  do
not consider their weight loss and restricted eating as problematic  and  no
matter how much they weight, the  feeling  of  being  overly  fat  will  not
abandon them.
     Anorexia Nervosa consists of various stages. First is  the  Early  Loss
Phase where a series of physical and  mental  changes  occur  as  adaptation
change to promote survival. Then it is followed by an Advanced  Weight  Loss
Phase. It begins when a person reaches the desired weight but is  unable  to
stop dieting due to the addictive function of endorphins.  Brain  dependency
takes place, judgdements become less perceptive  and  objective.  The  third
phase is the Burn-out Phase. Here the tolerance can no longer  be  o

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