Anorexia: Types and Causes

[kckitty]

I'm doing a project for Adolescent Psych about anorexia, but I wanted specifically to discuss different types and causes of it, especially since I know that any of us who have anorexia is mostly due to a fear of eating for fear of v* rather than fear of weight gain. Does anyone have any experiences or know anything about something like this?

Thanks,
KC

[katykins]

I am one of these people,i will never eat to get full for fear of feeling n*,also,i don't eat anything that has made me ill in the past.I never considered it anorexia though,because i think that being anorexic is "thinking you are bigger in size when in all actuality you are not*. My psychiatrist at the time did label it as an eating disorder,i just don't think anorexia is what it is.I know i'm thin,and well,i am trying to consume in moderation foods that will put a few lbs. on my body. Edited by: katykins

[virgo_witch]

Anorexia is not the fear of eating...that has a different name. Anorexia is the fear of being fat, so the person refuses to eat, or at least eats less than 500 calories a day.

No offense to anyone on here, but if you don't eat because you're an emet...you don't nessesarily have Anorexia...

[susie_q]

Anorexia is not the fear of eating...that has a different name. Anorexia is the fear of being fat, so the person refuses to eat, or at least eats less than 500 calories a day.

No offense to anyone on here, but if you don't eat because you're an emet...you don't nessesarily have Anorexia...

I agree, I was anorexic many years back and it had nothing to do with emet. I wasn't emet then (well kind of), but I never worried about it like I do now. It was all about control. Now, my bad eating habits are due to emet and not wanting to feel full or eat something that may be spoiled. I still have issues with eating that have to do both with being emet and being fat. Actually, I think those are my 2 worse fears. (Please, no offense to anybody when I say I have a fear of being fat.) It's just something I am really afraid of. Just one of my insecurities.

[r311dude]

My main doctor always tells new doctors that I see that I am suffering from Emetophobia and that it is not in any way related to Anorexia. It always makes me feel better cause growing up (and even know) people ask if I'm anorexic. It's kind of a nuisance.

[kckitty]

That makes perfect sense. I feel kind of silly not having realized that at first. I equated weight loss and malnutrition with anorexia, whoops.

Thanks for the clarification!

[katykins]

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[hippychick]

I thought anorexia was the term for a decrease in appetite whatever the cause and anorexia nervosa is when it's about body image and thinking you are fat etc? Can we get Sage to answer this one? lol

Edited by: hippychick

[sqil30]

I used to have people ask if I was anorexic. I was 89lbs at one point. I'm 5ft 8in so that is NOT good!! It was at the height of my phobia. I'm still an emet but I now weigh 137 lbs. I'm not really sure how I did it!! I have a great doctor, and I can talk to him aout anything. It's awful some of the names that people call you if they think you're anorexic, even if you are not.I am much happier at this height.

[sage]

Hippychick is correct. The term "anorexia" simply means refusing to eat, or being unable to eat - i.e., NOT EATING. "Anorexia nervosa" is a technical term that refers to the eating disorder. The DSM-IV says the symptoms of anorexia nervosa are weight loss to the point of stopping menses (periods) in women.

Unfortunately "anorexia nervosa" is often shortened to just "anorexia" and thus confusion can come in.

So technically when one doesn't eat because of fear of vomiting or nausea, one is "anorexic" - but does not have "anorexia nervosa".

Not sure if this helps clarify anything...just mindless geeky prattle really - lol.

[susie_q]

Hippychick is correct. The term "anorexia" simply means refusing to eat, or being unable to eat - i.e., NOT EATING. "Anorexia nervosa" is a technical term that refers to the eating disorder. The DSM-IV says the symptoms of anorexia nervosa are weight loss to the point of stopping menses (periods) in women.

Unfortunately "anorexia nervosa" is often shortened to just "anorexia" and thus confusion can come in.

So technically when one doesn't eat because of fear of vomiting or nausea, one is "anorexic" - but does not have "anorexia nervosa".

Not sure if this helps clarify anything...just mindless geeky prattle really - lol.

WOW, Sage, as a sufferer of anorexia nervosa in the past, I never knew it was just shortened like that. I thought it all meant the same thing...scared of being fat. Thanks for the clarification!

[katykins]

Main Entry:anorexic
Part of Speech:adjective
Definition:starving

So this pertains to anytime one is "unable" to eat,in terms of having no appetite,like if someone had a sv* and did not have an appetite i would not consider them as "anorexic",as for pregnant women who have no appetite either...hmmm,doesn't sit well but who knows,theres a label for everything anymore.

[sage]

Ya - when my cat wouldn't eat cuz his liver was messed up, the vet wrote "anorexic" on the chart. They fixed his liver with medication, and then we force-fed him for a short time and then he was fine and lived for several years after that.

(I have no idea why I told that story...lol)

[dr sue]

Hi all
- well, for the "geeky" among us:

1) "Anorexia" simply means "lack of appetite".

People who want to eat but are not able to (cancer of the esophagus, large painful mouth ulcers (as seen commonly in full blown AIDS (different from "just" being HIV positive), no food available or what there is has to go to the children, etc.) are technically not anorexic.

2)People who do not want to eat, as in have "no appetite" are considered to be "anorexic" when their intake is not meeting their physiological needs.

So tecnnically (geek again) you can be anorexic without necessarily being underweight. Obviously, if you continue to have "no appetite" when your body is actually needing food, then you will eventually be considered to be below "normal" weight. Most of us have experience with temporary "anorexia" - when we lose our appetites due to a viral illness, when we lose our appetites due grief, due to stress (exams), and the list goes on.

The "anorexia" that is secondary to emetophobia (no appetite because afraid of vomiting) is very different from the inadequate intake that we typically think of as "anorexia nervosa" - a very complex illness involving distorted body image, self starvation (not always, at least initially, due to image-reality mis-match), and a multitude of physiological consequences, some of which help to perpetuate the illness.

As far as the good old DSM IV (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, Fourth edition; initially designed to fascilitate research - much easier when there are very specific guidelines for what a certain diagnosis means - so for someone to be described as suffering from Unipolar Affective Disorder (generally the garden variety or more common form of "depression", a person must have X number of symptoms, persisting all or most of the time for X number of days during G amount of time, not due to other things such as Y or Z and not also suffering from A, B, or C, and not below age M...you get the idea - initially designed to be a useful research tool - to help us in one country/university/whatever know that when someone has "syndrome DYZ" the people on the other side of the world who also described someone as having "syndrome DYZ" would be "on the same page" - so to speak.

The DSM has some rather big problems when it comes to every day use. And, a glaring example of one area in need of an overhaul (DSM V - oh joy!) is in the diagnostic criteria of "anorexia nervosa" - yes - I did eventually plan to get back to the topic at hand - 'though at this point i imagine that everyone has probably yawned off or at least found a more interesting post- anyway - very nice to say that in order to have "anorexia nervosa" one must have a body weight that is low enough to have stopped the normal menstrual cycles - no periods. Kind of makes it hard to be a young man with "anorexia nervosa"! And unfortunately, although less common, boys/adolescent males/men DO "get" anorexia nervosa.

all good geeks need to sleep

If i've muddied the waters and made things even more confusing - let me know - and tomorrow (or soon) I'll dig out some better descriptions (the kind that sit on a book shelf/in a box - something more easily followed (or more accurate) than what I've just dragged out of some long forgotten bit of grey matter.

sleep
good night all
sue

[centipede]

2)People who do not want to eat, as in have "no appetite" are considered to be "anorexic" when their intake is not meeting their physiological needs.

I'm late joining in on this conversation but I would like to thank Dr. Sue and Sage for their expert advice and opinions.

I usually eat two meals per day (breakfast and lunch) and each meal is about half of what a normal adult would eat. During bouts of emetophobia, I don't lose my apetite. Sometimes I'm very hungry in the evening but I'm either too scared to eat anything or I'll eat something very light and small such as a handful of popcorn or cereal.

My question is, does the anorexia definition only apply to a loss of apetite?

Edited by: centipede

[dr sue]

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Hmmmmm - well Centipede - you got me thinking more about this - and it is obvious that I wasn't very accurate...so much for middle of the night ramblings. Let me see if I can clarify:

1) Anorexia comes from:

the Greek "an" which means "not"
and "orexis" which means "appetite"

2) Appetite comes from:

the Latin "appetitus" which means "longing for"

3) Hunger refers to the uncomfortable sensation that is caused by lack of food.& nbsp;Eventually this feeling may become painful. It is thought that the "pain" is caused by contractions of the stomach. Hunger is usually accompanied by an overwhelming "desire" to eat.

In English (according to a dictionary), the word appetite refers to

i) a pleasant sensation based on a previous experience that causes us to seek foodfor the purpose of tasting and enjoying

ii)or to "have a strong desire"

So......

I think some of the confusion comes in when the words "appetite" and "hunger" are used without bowing to the "gods of geekiness - those sticklers for accuracy"!

Anorexia means loss of appetite. If you have no appetite, no "desire" for food and thus do not eat, then from a medical perspective, you are considered to be "anorexic".

Clearly I was wrong in my earlier note:
-People who are hungry, but have no desire for food (my example; a patient with full blown AIDS who has a mouth full of aphthous ulcers and does wish eat due to fear of pain) are anorexic.
-Someone who is hungry. AND desires food, but is not able to eat (cancer of the oesophagus for example) is, very strictly speaking, not "anorexic". Maybe starving to death, but not anorexic.

So here comes the trickier bit:

A) -If someone is aware of feeling hungry, but has no desire for food because they suffer from emetophobia, then they are hungry, but without appetite, and thus are "anorexic".

B) -If someone's fear of vomiting suppresses their awareness of hunger, then although they do not feel any desire for food, and so have no appetite, the underlying problem is no perceived need for food ("not hungry"). Therefore, they are not "anorexic".

Person A and Person B may appear to be identical. However, although they may both have a phobia of vomiting; strictly speaking: one is anorexic and the other is not!

Eventually, if both A and B are "too thin" (puleese don't get me going on that definition) then someone might comment: "they both look as if they have anorexia". In this situation the person making that statement is likely using the term "anorexia" as a shortened form of the medical illness called "anorexia nervosa" (as Sage explained earlier). In truth, neither A nor B have anorexia nervosa, although one IS anorexic and the other is NOT anorexic.

There is a nice word: "anorexigenic"; that, if part of our everyday vocabulary, might settle a bit of this confusion!

Again: "an" means "not" and "orexis" means "appetite" (the "desire" - for food). Now tack on "gennan", which means "to produce", and we have a lovely word: anorexigenic ! A word which refers to something that produces or causes "anorexia", the state of lacking appetite, which in geek language means only the lack of "desire for" something, in this case: food.

**** Specifically "food"?Yes: food. More about that at the very end.

So.........this thing called emetophobia may be anorexigenic, or not, depending on whether one loses the desire, or appetite