Anorexia Nervosa Flashcards
(37 cards)
Depression and anxiety were the cornerstones for the development of CBT, what therapy did Anorexia Nervosa help develop?
Family Therapy.
Why is it important to hear the stories of people who suffer from certain disorders?
Because the lived experience is lost when we just look at numbers. Stories are an important form of evidence.
What ratio is Anorexia Nervosa diagnosed in men vs. women?
10:1.
What are some common precursor traits of women who go on to develop Anorexia?
Being compliant, perfectionistic, driven, empathetic, people-pleaser.
What kind of institutions are a ‘breeding ground’ for Anorexia?
All-girls private schools, because it has a destructive culture whereby the girls are expected to be perfect and compliant, achieve ATAR’s of 99 (without even knowing why they are striving for that).
People with severe Anorexia can develop symptoms from other disorders, which one’s? And why does this happen?
They can seem OCD, anxious, depressed, autistic. It is because their brains are shrinking from lack of nutrients (sometimes up to 20%).
For those who are diagnosed with Anorexia Nervosa, what percentage will die?
What causes most of the deaths?
15% will die.
50% of those deaths are due to suicide.
The DSM-5 criteria for Anorexia Nervosa contains 3 features, what are they?
- persistent restriction of energy intake leading to significantly low body weight.
- either intense fear of gaining weight, or behaviour that interferes with needed weight gain.
- disturbance in the way one’s body weight or shape is experienced, negative evaluation of self based on body shape, or cannot understand seriousness of low body weight.
In the DSM-5 criteria for Anorexia Nervosa, what are the two specifiers?
- Restrictive type: during the last three months, individual has not engaged in binge eating or purging. Low weight is accomplished through dieting, fasting and/or excessive exercise.
- Binge-eating/purging type: during the last three months, the individual has engaged in recurrent episodes of binge eating or purging behaviours.
Out of the two specifiers for Anorexia Nervosa in the DSM-5, which is more common? And what specific behaviours does it involve.
The ‘restrictive type’.
Involves eating less, eating rigidly, having rigid food behaviours (not mixing certain foods) & obsessional exercise.
What are some strategies Anorexia Nervosa sufferers will perform in a hospital setting when they want to appear to have gained weight, while maintaining weight loss behaviours?
To appear heavier: - wearing baggy clothes to hide body. - eat Vegemite/salty foods to retain water. - sew weights into underwear for weigh-ins. Weight loss behaviours: - hiding food in clothes/bed. - throwing food out the window. - exercise in the shower. - exercise in the middle of the night.
Why might group-therapies in hospitals be a bad idea for the maintenance of Anorexia Nervosa?
Because they can learn weight loss tricks from one another, as well as compared themselves to each other.
In the less common Anorexia Nervosa specifier, what are some behaviours involved to maintain the illness?
Self-induced vomiting, the misuse of laxatives, enemas and diuretics - so that food is not properly processed in the body.
An alternative way to conceptualise Anorexia Nervosa is through ‘embodiment’, what does this entail?
To understand that we ARE our bodies & there is no mind/body dualism. If a woman hates her body and loathes being in it, she experiences a dissociation from her body and herself. The mind/body relationship is disturbed and the sufferer will attempt to punish their body.
How does the bio-psycho-social paradigm define and categorise Anorexia Nervosa?
As a ‘disturbance in the way in which one’s body weight or shape is experienced’.
Understanding that Anorexia Nervosa is culturally-bound to a patriarchal system (as highlighted in feminist theories), why is it problematic to have an influx of male clinicians in the field of Anorexia Nervosa?
Because the societal framing of how a female body should be, often comes from a male perspective. Having too many male clinicians is problematic, as they may continue the male gaze and the patriarchal body-ownership of women’s bodies.
‘Embodiment’ theory shifts the perspective of Anorexia Nervosa to a view different tot that of the DSM-5. What is this shift is perspective?
It changes how the illness is understood by not looking AT the patient (behaviour, symptoms, etc.), but understanding the subjective experience of the patient. Figuring out what it’s like to look OUTSIDE at the world, from within one’s own body.
Psychology as a field normally stays neutral on issues within politics, even spirituality - as it wants to only deal with ‘science’. Why is this an issue?
Because any disorder listed in the DSM (or suffering in general) must be understood by looking at the society that created them (and the political/spiritual issues within that society).
How have feminist theories of Anorexia Nervosa sought to understand the illness?
By looking at the illness in relation to the wider social expectations on Western femininity.
Feminist theories of Anorexia Nervosa see the illness as bound to what?
A culture-bound syndrome.
The feminist understanding of Anorexia Nervosa, is that it is a cultural metaphor for what?
It is a cultural metaphor for issues of control (power), compliance and body ownership in a patriarchal system.
Feminist theories explore the idea that Anorexia Nervosa is an illness bound to ‘body ownership’ within a patriarchal society. From this perspective, how might recovery be achieved?
Recovery is about taking ownership of one’s body back from the patriarchal system women are bound to.
What are the medical risks associated with Anorexia Nervosa? (list the 9 body-systems and some examples)
- Neurological (atrophy of the brain).
- metabolic (hypothermia, dehydration).
- cardiovascular (arrhythmia).
- haematological (iron deficiency).
- renal (kidney failure).
- endocrine (amenorrhea, problems having children).
- musculoskeletal (osteoporosis, stress fractures).
- gastroenterological (delay gastric emptying, severe constipation).
- immunological (severe bacterial infections).
What are 4 indications that someone needs to be hospitalised because of their Anorexia Nervosa?
- Physiological Instability: e.g., slow heart beat (bradycardia), hypotension, hypothermia, changes in pulse or blood pressure.
- Cardiac Arrhythmia (irregular heartbeat).
- Electrolyte Disturbance.
- Severe Malnutrition (weight is less that 75-80% of IBW).
