...Diagnostic Criteria and Symptoms Because bulimia nervosa is an eating disorder, it is important to first understand the true definition of an eating disorder: “a persistent disturbance of eating behavior and/or a behavior intended to control weight that impairs social function or physical health significantly, but is not caused by a medical or other psychiatric disorder” (Eckert, 2008). Specifically, according to the DSM-V, there are multiple diagnostic criteria that a patient affected with supposed bulimia nervosa needs to meet in order to ultimately be classified with this type of disorder (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Bulimia nervosa is characterized through recurrent episodes of binge eating and carrying out inappropriate...
Words: 937 - Pages: 4
...DISORDERS ------------------------------------------------- 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...
Words: 3915 - Pages: 16
...Schizophrenia is defined as “split mind” but this references the disruption in normal balance of emotions and thinking. Schizophrenia is a chronic condition that requires lifelong treatment. Paranoid Schizophrenia is the most common type of Schizophrenia. It is when a person loses touch with reality. A person’s ability to function and think normally daily is altered more than during other types of schizophrenia. However, it includes fewer problems with concentration, memory, and/or lack of emotion. It is still a serious lifelong condition that can lead to many different complications. Doctors do not completely know what causes this disorder. Researchers have theories that it is caused by certain neural chemicals that are impaired and links have been found to abnormal regulation of the neurotransmitters dopamine and glutamate. Even though there is no specific known cause, there are risk factors that can increase the chances of being diagnosed with schizophrenia. The main risk factor is genetics. Other risk factors are environmental factors such as excessive stress, drug abuse, and/or abuse in general. If a mother abused drugs, was malnourished, or got a viral infection during pregnancy these things could also result in Schizophrenia in the child. There are a wide range of symptoms and secondary symptoms for Schizophrenia....
Words: 1095 - Pages: 5
...Mood disorder affects a person’s emotional state. These mood disorders include major depressive disorder depression and bipolar disorder. Major depressive disorder is also known as unipolar depression or simply major depression. It is a severe clinical mood disorder in which feelings, frustration, loss or anger inhibits with a person’s activities of daily living for long period of time (Beck 1967). Unipolar depression demonstrates itself as an episode of depression that can occur unexpectedly and bipolar depression substitutes between two mood extremes mania and depression (Beck 1967). Moreover unipolar involves neurosis manifestation and bipolar involves psychosis features. The aetiology of unipolar is unknown however research suggests a link to chemical changes in the brain and differences in gene make up. It is genetic but can also manifest in those with no family history (Jacob et al 1987). Contributory factors are alcohol and drug abuse, types of cancers and other medical conditions. Life changing issues such as job loss, divorce, death, illness, and social isolation, physical and emotional abuse can trigger unipolar depression. Jacob et al (1987) suggest that people with unipolar depression are more likely to use alcohol or illegal substances additionally these patients are at increased risk of other mental and physical health problems. Unipolar patients are more likely to commit suicide than the general population. Evidence suggests that depression ranks first among...
Words: 1989 - Pages: 8
...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...
Words: 4913 - Pages: 20
...she has major mechanical problems requiring massive repairs. The human body has certain limitations and guidelines that must be very closely adhered. The human body must maintain critical balances to remain healthy and working the way it was intended and to be able to balance the effects of food on human beings. Nutrition is a basic biological influence on human behavior. Consuming large amounts of “junk food,” like sweetened boxed cereals, candy, carbonated drinks, potato chips, and fast food cause depression, hyperactivity, and even anger in children and teenagers. The amount of candy eaten by children and sometimes adults also causes major sugar imbalances to occur in the human body. In the article “Food Traditions: The Thread that Links Generations,” Bonny Wolf explains why “Food imprinting is strong’’ (135). There is a daily absorption of high-sugar or artificially sweetened carbonated drinks using such poisonous artificial ingredients as NutraSweet, Aspartame, Sucralose, inordinate amounts of high-fructose corn syrup, and many other physically dangerous additives and...
Words: 1410 - Pages: 6
...I would say, from what I have learned in my abnormal psychology class, your daughter might have something called bulimia, which is a type of eating disorder. A person with bulimia eats a lot of food in a short amount of time which is binging and then tries to prevent weight gain by purging or getting rid of the food. Purging might be done by: * Making yourself throw up * Taking laxatives, which you have found in her room. Laxatives can pills or liquids and speed up the movement of food through your body to produce a bowel movement more quickly, making it an easy and appealing way to lose weight. * Exercise excessively, as you have described People with bulimia often fall within the normal range for their age and weight. But their weak points are that they: * Fear gaining weight * Want desperately to lose weight * Are very unhappy with their body size and shape A person with bulimia may be thin, overweight, or have a normal weight. A person with bulimia is often very private so they can do things such as throwing up because the person with bulimia feels shame or disgust. This makes it hard to know if someone has bulimia. The warning signs to look out for are extreme weight loss through: * Using diet pills, or taking pills to urinate or have a bowel movement * Going to the bathroom all the time after eating (to throw up) * Exercising a lot, even in bad weather or when hurt or tired You may be able to recognize the signs of frequent...
Words: 1607 - Pages: 7
...research techniques. The brain is like a committee of experts. All the parts of the brain work together, but each part has its own special properties. Biological causes of clinical depression continue to be studied extensively. Great progress has been made in the understanding of brain function, the influence of neurotransmitters, and other biological processes, as well as how they may relate to the development of depression. Depression or anxiety causes individuals to have many changes in their behaviors. They tend to become isolated from their family, friends, or be social. Their eating patterns lead to either weight gain or loss; and sleeping patterns change where they either do not sleep or sleep excessively. They become agitated, irritable, and fatigue or have lack of energy. Biological psychology aims at finding the biological factor of depression. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, (SSRI) have had a major impact on the field of biological psychology because it is the most commonly prescribed medication for the treatment of depression and other mental disorders including anxiety and obsessive disorder. The brain is the "command center" of the human body. It controls the basic functions of our...
Words: 2107 - Pages: 9
...support the use of dexamethasone ST in internal medicine practice.” (Shapiro, Lehman, & Greenfield, 1983) The Catecholamine Hypothesis suggests that patients have low levels of norepinephrine in the brain which is translated to finding lover levels of MHPG in urine and causes depression, however they have not proved this, they have only proven that depressed patients have this deficit but not why, which could be from a number of things, again proving that it could be an effect of sadness not a cause. There are quite a few other theories as to what causes people to be depressed, including serotonin levels, hypoglycemia and hypothyroidism. Serotonin and dopamine levels are related to neurotransmitters called monoamines The Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) stated “Currently, no clear evidence links abnormal serotonin receptor activity in the brain to depression. Increased receptors for serotonin have been observed in the brains of suicide victims (box 4-B), but there are conflicting...
Words: 1365 - Pages: 6
...To me, compulsive overeating is a disease where a person has no control over their food intake. It's a constant eating, a wanting for a more and more. You can't get enough, sort of like a junkie looking for the next high. That is my relationship with food. And I have no control. People that suffer from Compulsive Overeating have what can be labeled not only as an eating disorder, but also as an addiction and even more so as an illness. There are many reasons why people become addicted to food, many using eating as a way to cope with problems or stress in their lives. Eating can also help them conceal their emotions, to fill the emptiness that they feel inside. Food is used as a narcotic to not deal with their feelings or emotions. The tendency for people with this eating disorder is overweight because of the abnormal eating habits. People that do not suffer from the epidemic can and won’t empathize with the victims because of the common stereotypes, stereotype such as greed, gluttony or lack of disciple. Simple suggestions to a sufferer such as “Just slow down or go on a diet” are equally insulting as telling a person suffering from Anorexia to “eat something”. Not only are the words hurtful, but this disorder will negatively bleed into the body and causes health risks. A sufferer with this Compulsive Overeating disorder is prone to high blood-pressure and cholesterol, can develop kidney disease or kidney failure, arthritis, deterioration of the bones, strokes, heart attacks,...
Words: 17730 - Pages: 71
...views on them. It is important to understand the concept of hunger and fullness from physiological research and what it has shown us. Let us begin with things that have been discovered to be untrue. A common belief is that our blood glucose levels affect our hunger and satiety. However, research has shown that this is untrue; glucose levels remain fairly stable and do not fluctuate often. You may be wondering what glucose has to do with hunger. The belief was that when our energy levels dropped so would our blood glucose, this would then trigger our hunger; we would then eat restoring our levels back up to a certain energy level. If this were true then people would maintain a relatively stable amount of weight because we would only eat for the amount of energy we needed. Another myth is that of the hypothalamus and its role in hunger and satiety. It was believed that it controlled satiety and feeding. Instead research has shown that the hypothalamus controls energy metabolism not eating (sharecare.com). A very common belief is that hunger is caused by an empty stomach and satiety is caused by the feeling of...
Words: 1114 - Pages: 5
...sources in the current document.The purpose of this essay is to explain the role of cytokines in depression. Over the last few decades there have been many controversial hypotheses put forward to explain the observation of depressive symptoms in people, who have a physical injury or are under psychological stress (Schiepers, et al., 2008). Research shows that most controversy was over how the messages from the immune system were interpreted or translated into being a signal to the central nervous system (CNS). While most research agreed that there was a correlation in data between cytokines and depressive symptoms, they did not believe this indicated a causal link (Anisman, 2002). I have chosen to focus one of the most popular theories, the “cytokine theory of depression”, as I believe the research shows that it has a causal link between inflammation, cytokine activity and depressive symptoms (Roque, et al., 2009). This hypothesis recognises and explains the highly integrated processes and mechanisms that a person or animal goes through, from the initial stressor to displaying the depressive symptoms, termed as “sickness behaviour” (Dantzer, 2006). “Sickness Behaviour” is the term given to the symptoms caused by high levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines in the periphery of the body; these symptoms overlap with the general characteristics of depression and include; decreased appetite, increased desire to sleep, cognitive dysfunction, social withdrawal and decreased sexual drive. It...
Words: 2711 - Pages: 11
...Discuss two or more definitions of abnormality (12 marks) One definition of abnormality is “deviation from social norms” and under this definition a person’s thinking or behaviour is classified as abnormal if it violates the unwritten rules about what is expected or acceptable behaviour in a particular social group. Behaviour may be incomprehensible to others or make others feel threatened or uncomfortable. For example, someone would be classified as being abnormal if they laughed at a funeral, as this is socially unacceptable. A weakness of this definition is that it lacks cultural relativity as social behaviour varies when different cultures are compared. For e.g. it’s common in south Europe to stand much closer to strangers than in the UK. As well as this voice pitch and volume, touching, directions of gaze and acceptable subjects for discussion have all been found to vary between cultures. This means what is considered deviant or abnormal varies considerably across cultures, thus weakening this definition. Another limitation of deviation from social norms is that it lacks time validity. This is because social norms change over time; behaviour that was once seen as abnormal may be acceptable and vice versa. For example, drink driving was once considered acceptable but is now seen as socially unacceptable whereas homosexuality has changed the other way. Until 1980 homosexuality was considered a psychological disorder but is considered acceptable today. This is a weakness...
Words: 3190 - Pages: 13
...Discuss two or more definitions of abnormality (12 marks) One definition of abnormality is “deviation from social norms” and under this definition a person’s thinking or behaviour is classified as abnormal if it violates the unwritten rules about what is expected or acceptable behaviour in a particular social group. Behaviour may be incomprehensible to others or make others feel threatened or uncomfortable. For example, someone would be classified as being abnormal if they laughed at a funeral, as this is socially unacceptable. A weakness of this definition is that it lacks cultural relativity as social behaviour varies when different cultures are compared. For e.g. it’s common in south Europe to stand much closer to strangers than in the UK. As well as this voice pitch and volume, touching, directions of gaze and acceptable subjects for discussion have all been found to vary between cultures. This means what is considered deviant or abnormal varies considerably across cultures, thus weakening this definition. Another limitation of deviation from social norms is that it lacks time validity. This is because social norms change over time; behaviour that was once seen as abnormal may be acceptable and vice versa. For example, drink driving was once considered acceptable but is now seen as socially unacceptable whereas homosexuality has changed the other way. Until 1980 homosexuality was considered a psychological disorder but is considered acceptable today. This is a weakness because...
Words: 3191 - Pages: 13
...Diathesis-stress model of psychopathology is a psychological theory that attempts to explain behavior as a predisposition vulnerability together with stress from life experiences. With this model can involve a particular genetic makeup, physiology, set of cognitions, personality, or a combination of these. In infants a common disorder is autism spectrum disorder (ASD), this disorder is characterized by abnormal social and communication development, restricted interests and repetitive behavior. Individuals with autism function poorly throughout adolescents and adults, however a few seem to improve with age. No one environmental cause has been identified for this disorder to develop, researchers believe that there are multiple pathways through which autism can occur. These pathways include a variety of various environmental pollutants, toxins and viruses. Suspected causes of autism is when segments of DNA that affect neural communication have been copied too many times or too few times during cell division. This happens more often than not when the fathers are older due to the fact that in the formation of sperm, mutations and copy number variations become more common. Another theory suggested that exposure to a mercury compound (Thimerosal), this compound has formerly been used in normal childhood vaccines such as Measles, Mumps and German Measles/Rubella (MMR) This is due to the fact that children start to develop symptoms of autism during the period of time they received MMR...
Words: 959 - Pages: 4
