Anorexia nervosa is characterized by emaciation, a relentless pursuit of thinness and unwillingness to maintain a normal or healthy weight, a distortion of body image and intense fear of gaining weight, a lack of menstruation among girls and women, and extremely disturbed eating behavior. Some people with anorexia lose weight by dieting and exercising excessively; others lose weight by self-induced vomiting, or misusing laxatives, diuretics or enemas.
Many people with anorexia see themselves as overweight, even when they are starved or are clearly malnourished. Food and weight control become obsessions. A person with anorexia typically weighs themselves repeatedly, often portions food carefully, and eats only very small quantities of only certain foods. Some who have anorexia recover with treatment after only one episode. Others get well but have relapses. Still others have a more chronic form of anorexia, in which their health deteriorates over many years as they battle the illness.
Symptoms
- Deliberate self-starvation with weight loss
-Intense, persistent fear of gaining weight
-Refusal to eat or highly restrictive eating
-Continuous dieting
-Excessive facial/body hair because of inadequate protein in the diet
-Compulsive exercise
-Abnormal weight loss
-Sensitivity to cold
-Absent or irregular menstruation
-Hair loss