Anorexia Nervosa

Anorexia Nervosa Student’s Name Institution of Affiliation Course Instructor Date Anorexia Nervosa Anorexia Nervosa (AN) is a critical psychological illness, the symptoms of which, for the most part, are associated with the female teenager. AN is defined by the extreme concern with thinness, restrictive behaviors regarding food intake, and a disordered perception of one's body shape, which results in serious physiological, psychological, and social symptoms among the sufferers. This paper shall give a full account of Anorexia Nervosa, the age at which it occurs, the differences between the genders, the manifestation of this disease, and this disease and interpersonal and employment relations. Furthermore, this paper will discuss the causes of the disorder, its treatment, the drugs used in the treatment of the disorder, and the associated risks. Description of Anorexia Nervosa Anorexia Nervosa has an early age of onset and is primarily diagnosed in childhood; nonetheless, the risk period is most prevalent between 14 and 18 years of age (Halter, 2018). This condition can affect both males and females, but most commonly, it is recorded relatively high in the female sex, with 90% of the cases reported in young females. In AN, the cardinal feature is a refusal to gain weight or failure to do so despite being severely underweight. While eating disorders are not the most common in the world, they are nevertheless very serious, and sufferers with AN, for instance, will continue to be extremely scared of gaining weight even if they look thin. They also have body image disturbances that view themselves as being overweight even when they are skeletonlike. Some of the features of AN are the following physical and behavioral characteristics. In the physical aspect, people suffering from AN suffer from weight loss, listlessness, weakness, fainting spells, absence of menses in females, rough skin, brittle hair, and impaired immune systems. These include food limitation, preoccupation with the quantity of food taken, rigorous exercise, and shunning of meals. The disorder affects the interpersonal relationship of a person in a severe way because the person spends most of the time alone and away from family and friends due to the obsession with food and body shape. In addition, the two contribute to decreased ability to work due to effects on the ability to concentrate, make decisions, or be physically present in the workplace due to fatigue caused by malnutrition, as listed in the DSM-5 by the American Psychiatric Association (2013). Causes of Anorexia Nervosa The causes of Anorexia Nervosa are rather diverse, and it is widely believed that they are influenced by both genetic and environmental as well as psychological factors. This may include; One of them is hereditary arguments. The literature review indicates that people who have a family history of eating disorders or other psychiatric disorders, including depression and anxiety, are more likely to be affected by AN than those without any family history of psychiatric disorders (Watson et al., 2023). Stress or poor nutrition during pregnancy may also cause the disorder, as such factors affect the baby's brain and incre...