What is anoerxia nervosa?

Anorexia, or Anorexia nervosa, is a condition when people either don’t eat at all or barely eat,”which eventually leads to a long time of starvation.” Not only is it unhealthy for them with a person starving themselves, for days or weeks, it will cause further damage to them. People with anorexia worry about their weight constantly. According to one of my sources, WebMD, (www.webmd.com) even when they are skinny or underweight, they still think they are overweight.

Another fact about anorexia is that many people, most in their teen years, have died from it. If someone doesn’t go into treatment for it, the eating disorder could eventually cause death. Harm is done to the stomach because they cannot properly digest food or it can cause stomach issues, for example indigestion, nausea or acid reflux.

Anorexia can also affect teenagers with a person’s overthinking. Of the insecurity about how their body looks, are they skinny? Are they too fat? Does my body look right? Or even thinking, “Am I pretty enough?” This comes mainly from comparing themselves to others, relationships, feeling as if their partner would not want to be with them if they were “fat.” The thoughts can be caused by social media, TV shows or their peers. Everything that’s posted on social media is edited and it gives teenagers a certain idea of how their bodies should look.

Anorexia can also affect a person’s mental health in other ways. When overthinking how your body should be, it can cause an obsession. People with anorexia also believe their life will only be better if they are skinnier. But with the obsession the person becomes even more insecure, and sometimes it does cause depression or even just anxiety. There are some people who become so skinny you see their bones and they still don’t believe they are skinny.

According to the National Library of Medicine, anorexia can also come from family or just trauma in someone’s childhood. It’s called genetic predisposition, which is when anyone can get the disorder from any family member. Those with a bad case of anorexia have to be sent to either a mental hospital or they begin to deny something is wrong. Mostly females are the ones with anorexia because of society’s image of how a woman should look.