hi I'm Dr Leslie sim a clinical psychologist with Mayo Clinic throughout life we all experience moments of concern about our body shape and weight but when these thoughts cause dangerous weight loss or dieting it may be due to an eating disorder called anorexia nervosa anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder characterized by fear of weight gain this fear drives people to restrict their eating leading to dangerous weight loss or failure to make expected weight gain restrictive eating and anorexia nervosa can take many forms it might involve skipping meals eating smaller portion sizes or eliminating snacks and
specific foods from a person's diet people with anorexia nervosa can present at any weight or shape people in larger bodies and smaller bodies experience similar medical and psychological complications some people with anorexia may not explicitly state or even be aware that they are afraid to gain weight on some occasions people with anorexia will deny fear of weight gain and instead describe a preoccupation with eating healthy however when this Pursuit leads to dangerous consequences and undermines their health this is a characteristic of anorexia nervosa the exact cause of anorexia nervosa is still unknown but biological psychological
and social factors increase the risk for the condition situations that lead to weight loss can also place people at risk for example anxiety weight loss for any reason medical conditions or medications that interfere with appetite low appetite or fear of vomiting can put people at risk for anorexia nervosa many of the psychological and physical complications of anorexia are related to starvation they may be difficult to notice because people with anorexia often disguise their thinness eating habits or physical problems Associated symptoms may include depression suicidal Behavior poor appetite focus on pain or fatigue preoccupation with food
and fear of weight gain anorexia nervosa is a serious life-threatening condition that has one of the highest mortality rates of any mental illness anorexia affects every organ system in the body including impairments and bone growth and heart problems depression is frequently a consequence of restrictive eating and weight loss notably anorexia is associated with a very poor quality of life with many deaths due to suicide anorexia is often difficult to diagnose as many individuals will lack insight into the seriousness of their low weight the fear of weight gain leads them to under-report their symptoms and attribute
their weight loss to low appetite abdominal pain or other factors anorexia nervosa often goes undetected in people with higher weights which commonly contributes to delays in their diagnosis the good news is that anorexia is very treatable particularly if caught early the first and necessary goals are to restore eating and weight weight has to be fully restored to have a full recovery for those in larger bodies weight restoration may have to be higher than they want it to be in order to recover because of the fear of weight gain and lack of insight people with anorexia
need family support and assistance with meals to improve their eating and weight if you have a loved one you're worried about urge him or her to talk to a doctor they are not alone and treatment does help learn more about anorexia nervosa by visiting mayoclinic.org we wish you well
