...------------------------------------------------- Specification link: You will be able to outline and evaluate: ------------------------------------------------- Biological, including neural and evolutionary, explanations of anorexia nervosa ------------------------------------------------- Psychology explanations of anorexia nervosa Outline and description of theories | Research evidence and commentary | IntroductionThe DSM-IV Rev identifies three categories of eating disorder: * Anorexia nervosa 1. AN -restricting type – refusal to eat 2. AN- binge eating/purging type – episodes of binge eating followed by removal of food from the body by vomiting, laxatives, or enemas.Both of these are associated with significant weight loss and the other symptoms of AN. * Bulimia nervosa – episodes of binging followed by removal of food from the body by vomiting, laxatives, or enemas (no significant weight loss). * Eating disorders not otherwise specified (EDNOS)The four major symptoms of anorexia nervosa are: * The body weight is 85% or less of normal weight for age and height * Distorted perception of body weight/shape, and/or denial that the weight loss is severe * Intense fear of becoming fat * Loss of three consecutive menstrual cycles in women (amenorrhoea)Anorexia nervosa (AN) and Bulimia nervosa (BN) have much in common, particularly a dissatisfaction with body weight and/or shape. AN affects approx 0.3 % of males and 0.9% of females. BN is more common (0...
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...Abstract The main purpose of this extended project dissertation is as following: to explore the causes of eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa, in particular the biological, psychological and societal causes. Eating disorders are becoming increasingly common in today’s society and the causes of theses disorders are not completely known. This essay explores the symptoms of anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa, the risks and consequences of suffering from such disorders. The essay also concentrates upon how eating disorders are gradually affecting more and more men and children – something that was not often seen before. The main focus of this project is to discover whether the causes of anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa stem from pre-dispositions which are linked with the body and mind or rather stemmed from society. The main biological reasons which the essay focuses on are; damaged hypothalamuses and genetic hereditariness. The main environmental causes of anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa that I have studied are media influences and undesirable conditions for raising children. In writing this project I believe that I have developed valuable skills that I will need in my subjects which include; being able to extract key information from large pieces of text, researching, speedy note taking and the ability to weigh up two sides of an argument fairly and without bias. I am also aware that the skills I am developing while writing this dissertation...
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...amounts of food than usual, but at some point, the urge to eat less or more spirals out of control. Eating disorders are very complex, and despite scientific research to understand them, the biological, behavioural and social underpinnings of these illnesses remain elusive. The two main types of eating disorders are anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. Eating disorders frequently appear during adolescence or young adulthood, but some reports indicate that they can develop during childhood or later in adulthood. Women and girls are much more likely than males to develop an eating disorder. Over 90% of people diagnosed with eating disorders are adolescent or young women. Eating disorders are real, treatable medical illnesses with complex underlying psychological and biological causes. They frequently co-exist with other psychiatric disorders such as depression, substance abuse, or anxiety disorders. Biological Perspective The biological perspective is a way of looking at psychological topics by studying the physical basis for human behaviour. It involves such things as studying the immune system, nervous system and genetics. Also considered are physical factors that directly affect the nervous system, including heredity, metabolism, hormones, disease, drug ingestion, and diet. The biological approach suggests that Eating disorders are due to a physical cause, suggesting it could be due to something genetic within the body or brain; such as hypothalamus dysfunction or an imbalance...
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...traditionally been thought of as the leading cause of disorders such as anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. However, this explanation alone doesn’t seem sufficient. We are all exposed to the same “thin is in” messaging and to live in a westernized society more or less means residing in a virtually inescapable landscape that pushes thinness as a valuable possession. Yet, anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa affect only an estimated 0.3 to 0.7 percent, and 1.7 to 2.5 percent, respectively, of females in the general population (Berrettini, 2004). Through my research, which...
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...Outline and evaluate psychological explanations for anorexia nervosa [20 marks]. Behavioural explanations of anorexia nervosa (AN) suggest that slimming becomes a ‘habit’, through stimulus response mechanisms. For example, the person does on a diet and receives praise either for their efforts or their new slimmer appearance. Operant conditioning then takes effect as the admiration from others further reinforces their dieting behaviour. Rewards may also come in the form of attention gained from parents by not eating. Behavioural psychologists also propose anorexia as a phobia concerning the possibility of gaining weight. The portrayal of thin models on TV and in magazines is a significant contributory factor in body image concerns and the drive for thinness among Western adolescent girls. Jones and Buckingham found people with low self-esteem are more likely to compare themselves to idealised images portrayed in the media. Garner et al (1980) noted that the winners of Miss America and the centrefolds in Playboy magazine have consistently been below the average female weight and have become significantly more so since 1959. Thus the slender female perceived as being the cultural ideal might be one cause of the fear of being fat. A study by Becker of adolescent Fijian girls found that after the introduction of television to the island, these girls stated a desire to lose weight and to b like the women they saw on Western television; this lead to a significant increase in eating...
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...Psychological explanations for anorexia nervosa There are many factors that contribute to an individual developing anorexia nervosa such as cultural influences and the media. It has been proven that the Western culture especially has a major influence on especially girls developing AN as they see ‘perfect’ body type ideals on the media so through classical conditioning they associate a skinny body type with success and attractiveness. Gregory et al from The National Diet and Nutrition Survey of Young People reported that 16% of 15-18 are currently on a diet supporting the theory of media portraying perfect body types on TV has a negative impact on especially girls in developing eating disorders and creating a distorted view of the body image. Additionally Jones and Buckingham have found that individuals that have low self-esteem will compare themselves more with idealised images form the media resulting in them developing eating disorders such as AN. Hoek et al have found that it is particularly rare for non-Western cultures to develop AN therefore supporting the fact that culture has a big influence on developing eating disorders. As Western cultures are filled with media portraying skinny models and punishing fatter people in programmes such as embarrassing fat bodies or the biggest loser, this results in people feeling the social pressure in order to fit in also if positive reinforcement is used, so if you lose weight and someone compliments you on it you are more likely to...
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...Anorexia Nervosa Anorexia nervosa (AN) is an eating disorder that is characterized by the refusal to sustain a healthy weight (Kumar, Tung, & Iqbai, 2010). Many believe that anorexia is more common amongst Caucasian women, but anorexia occurs throughout all cultures and races. AN has the highest mortality rate of an psychiatric disorder (Kumar, Tung, & Iqbai, 2010). Every major organ system is affected because of the malnutrition that anorexia causes. People with anorexia look in the mirror and see a distorted image rather than what is reality. Victims of anorexia see someone that is huge when in actuality they may be average size and weight. Once a person is diagnosed with anorexia it is hard for them to recover. Not only is it hard for a person with AN to recover, it is also extremely easy to relapse. It takes intense therapy and treatment to cure someone with anorexia. AN exists in every culture and race; it varies amongst African Americans differently as opposed to other cultures. Symptoms of anorexia include an intense fear of gaining weight, refusal to keep body weight up, and amenorrhea for 3 consecutive months (Kumar, Tung, & Iqbai, 2010). Amenorrhea is the abnormal absence of menstruation. Some other symptoms of AN are lanugo, joint swelling, dental cavities, tooth loss, and abdominal distension (Kumar, Tung, & Iqbai, 2010). Lanugo is the growth of fine white hair that grows when anorexics have no body fat left to keep themselves warm (Morrisey, 2010). There also...
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...Outline and evaluate one psychological explanation and one biological explanation of an eating disorder. [24 marks] Bulimia nervosa is an eating disorder characterised by recurrent binge-eating followed by self-induced vomiting or another compensatory behaviour (purging). One psychological explanation of bulimia nervosa is the functional model which was created by Polivy et al. in 1994. This model suggests that individuals engage in the binge-eating associated with BN as a way of coping with identity problems, particularly those associated with self-image. By overeating the person can attribute any resulting distress to the overeating rather than to the more serious underlying issues associated with threats to their emotional well-being. This led to the view that bulimic binge behaviour was purposeful for individuals dealing with life stressors. The functional model assumes that individuals with BN engage in binge-eating as a way of avoiding identity issues. Wheeler et al. (2001) proposed that negative self-image and a desire to escape from difficult life issues predicted the onset of bulimic behaviour, the consequence of which was a diffuse-avoidant identity style. Individuals in this state feel externally controlled, use emotion-focused rather than problem-focused coping strategies, and avoid the exploration of identity issues. Consequently they maintain a negative self-image and feel socially isolated. Polivy et al. provided evidence for the claim that BN is a functional...
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... Normal psychology is the study of the mind and the study of behavior. When unusual patterns of behavior, thought and emotion are studied, it falls under the branch of psychology called Abnormal psychology. The control and understanding of behavior that is considered to be deviant or aberrant either statistically or morally, has been the subject of much research and debate. Psychologists who focus on abnormal psychology identify the different causes of various conditions all while employing and discovering diverse theories that derive from general psychology theories and research. However this is still much debate and controversy over what is meant by the label of "abnormal". There has always been a split between biological explanations and psychological explanations when it comes to classifying mental disorders and the...
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...Anorexia Nervosa Name Institution Professor Course Date Anorexia Nervosa One of the most common eating disorders in the world is anorexia nervosa. A patient who suffers from anorexia nervosa loses at least fifteen percent of the normal minimum weight. Anorexia nervosa incidences are increasing these days with many cases recorded for the past few decades. In every 100,000 persons, there are between eight to thirteen cases of people suffering from anorexia disorders. For instance, statistics show that nearly seven thousand people in Hong Kong suffer from anorexia nervosa. Moreover, anorexia nervosa is more prevalent among girls under adolescent between the ages of 15 to 20 years of age who are a high risk. Moreover, more than 95% of people suffering from anorexia nervosa are females. Anorexia nervosa, and according to research it normally starts affecting adolescent girls from the age young age of around 13 years all through their entire life up to around 20 years of age. As a result, this essay will target the cases of the adolescent girls between 15 to 20 years of age as they have higher risk or have the problem already. Individuals experiencing eating disorder at times find it difficult to differentiate between what is either normal or abnormal. Anorexia nervosa has many behaviors and thoughts among them body image distortion, inability of maintaining healthy body weights, eating habits that are scarce and fear of eating...
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...medicine to stress the prevention and enhancement of health. It expands the biological framework of medicine to also include psychological and social factors. The scope of health psychology is very broad because many theories and methods of psychology can be applied to health-related issues. Maes & van Elderen (1998) (cited in Gross, 2009) defines health psychology as “…a sub-discipline of psychology which addresses the relationship between psychological processes and behaviour on the one hand and health and illness on the other...”. Health psychology aims to understand, explain, develop and test theories by evaluating the role of psychology and its perspectives as factors affecting illness, predicting unhealthy behaviours and understanding and evaluating the role of psychology in the experience and treatment of illness. It also aims to put theory into practice by promoting healthy behaviour, preventing illness and thereby improving the health care system and health policy. For example, from programmes developed to help people reduce risk factors to their health, such as obesity and smoking, to understanding how people respond to the onset of illness, how they deal with their illness, how they cope with pain and how they respond to treatments. Therefore, health psychology is an important discipline that has a great deal to offer to the health care system, demonstrating that psychological principals can be successful in providing positive health effects in patients...
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...THE BIOLOGICAL APPROACH TO PSYCHOPATHOLOGY Approaches to psychopathology are based on different views of the CAUSE of abnormality. The models have different views about how abnormality comes about in the first place Assumptions of the biological model • Abnormality is caused by physical factors – as all behaviour is associated with changes in brain function, abnormal behaviour will be caused by changes in either the structure or function of the brain. - For example in terms of the structure of the brain (neuroanatomy) a damaged hypothalamus has been linked to anorexia - In terms of the function of the brain, neurotransmitters and hormones have been linked to psychopathology, e.g. low levels of serotonin have been lined to depression. • Abnormality is inherited – the genetic view is that there are abnormal genes that are inherited, i.e. passed down from parents to children, even though they may not be shown in every generation. Family, twin and adoption studies are used to establish concordance rates (this shows the extent to which members of the same family share a particular characteristic) to test for genetic predispositions as an explanation of abnormality. - For example Holland et al (1988) found a 56% concordance rate for identical twins (MZ) and only a 5% concordance rate for non-identical twins (DZ) in anorexia nervosa which supports the idea of a genetic basis for abnormality. Evaluation of the biological model Strengths ...
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...grumbling, because even if you try to eat something you can’t, your body refuses it. Imagine every time you stand up your vision gets blurry and you have to grab hold of something while your head is pounding. Just imagine not being able to go to the beach with your friends because even in 80 degree weather you get goose bumps. This is the true life for many women and some men around the world with eating disorders; it takes over your whole life. Today the idea of being beautiful has contributed too many young women forming preposterous body image expectations leading to eating disorders. Eating disorders do not only have one cause. Eating disorders are complex conditions that arise from combination of long-standing behavioral, biological, emotional, psychological, interpersonal and social factors. Scientists and researchers are still learning about underlining causes of these emotionally and physically damaging conditions. According to NEDA (National Eating Disorder Association) some of the general issues that contribute to the development of eating disorders have been generalized. Some may argue that the media is not to be blamed for antagonizing eating disorders, but the influence of the media cannot be overseen. Young women in today’s society deal with numerous body image problems, only to find that the media contributes overstate that to look good you must have the perfect body. All that is seen on the billboards are thin models; young women immediately see these pictures and seek...
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...Disorders * Sexual Arousal Disorders * Orgasmic Disorders * Sexual Pain Disorders * Paraphilias * Gender Identity Disorders (Hansell & Damour, 2008) Sexual and Gender Disorder Classifications * The DSM-IV-TR classifies sexual disorders into three types: sexual dysfunctions, paraphilias, and gender identity disorder. (Hansell & Damour, 2008) Summary of Sexual and Gender Identity Disorders * The psychodynamic approach focuses on fixations in sexual development and also focuses on defense mechanisms. * Cognitive/behavioral perspectives emphasize social learning of abnormal sexuality, classically conditioned sexual arousal to deviant stimuli, and reinforcement of aberrant sexual behavior. * Biological factors can include some disinhibiting diseases or injuries or mental retardation that can contribute to abnormal behavior. (Hansell & Damour, 2008) Personality Disorder Categories * Paranoid Personality Disorder * Schizoid Personality Disorder * Schizotypal Personality Disorder * Antisocial Personality Disorder * Borderline Personality Disorder * Histrionic Personality Disorder * Narcissistic Personality Disorder * Avoidant Personality Disorder * Dependent Personality Disorder * Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder (Hansell & Damour, 2008) Personality Disorder Classifications * Cluster A – paranoid, schizoid and schizotypal disorders * Cluster B – antisocial, borderline...
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...Chp 15 Notes Defining Psychological Disorders Psychological disorder - a syndrome marked by a clinically significant disturbance in an individual’s cognition, emotion regulation, or behavior Disturbed, or dysfunctional thoughts, emotions, or behaviors are maladaptive - they interfere with normal day-to-day life. Understanding Psychological Disorders Medical Model Brutal treatments may worsen, rather than improve, mental health. Philippe Pinel opposed such brutal treatments. He insisted that sickness of the mind is caused by severe stress and inhumane conditions. Curing them requires “moral treatment’” including boosting patients’ moral by unchaining them and talking with them. Medical model - the concept that diseases, in this case psychological disorders, have physical causes that can be diagnosed, treated, and in more cases, cured, often through treatment in a hospital Biopsychosocial Approach The biopsychosocial approach emphasizes that mind and body are inseparable. Negative emotions contribute to physical illness, and physical abnormalities contribute to negative emotions. Epigenetics - the study of environmental influences on gene expression that occur without a DNA change Classifying Disorders & Labeling People Classification aims to: * Predict the disorder’s future course * Suggest appropriate treatment * Prompt research into causes DSM-5 - the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of...
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