Compare and contrast anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa.

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Responses will vary; anorexia and bulimia nervosa are both eating disorders that stem form some combination of environmental pressures. They are characterized by an intense fear of becoming fat. Many people who have eating disorders are afflicted by significant family and social problems and may lack fulfillment in many areas of their lives. The eating disorders become coping mechanisms to avoid dealing with their problems. Anorexics seem to fear weight gain more than death from starvation and they have a distorted image of their body; they think they are fat even when they are emaciated. They refuse to maintain body weight over a minimal normal weight for their age and height. Anorexics often go undetected because they are able to hide it from friends and family. Anorexics also go undetected because thinness and dieting are socially acceptable. Treatment consists of medical and psychological therapy to restore nutrition, prevent complications, and modify the events that trigger the syndrome. Bulimia is more prevalent than anorexia. Bulimics usually are healthy-looking people that are near their recommended body weight. Bulimics enjoy food and will socialize around it. They lack self-confidence and self-esteem. Bulimics experience a binge-purge cycle in where they will feed themselves large amounts of food and then get rid of the food.