Anorexia Nervosa is an eating disorder where the afflicted individuals see themselves in a distorted fashion and maintain an unhealthy pursuit to lose weight. They will see themselves as overweight even if they are at a critically low weight. Warning signs for this disorder include refusal to eat, over dieting, abnormal weight loss, absent menstruation, hair loss, and sensitivity to cold [CITATION ANA14 l 1033]. If this disorder goes untreated, it can be fatal. Fortunately, there is an abundance of information available on this disorder to include motivations behind the disorder, why it affects young woman predominately, and what treatment options can be used effectively.
As Anorexia Nervosa is such a demoralizing disorder, what motivation would drive a person to live in an unending life cycle to keep them at a sickly weight level? The answer is not straightforward. There are three classes of factors that can contribute to this eating disorder: environmental factors, psychological factors, and genetic factors. Some of the psychological traits that can contribute to a person developing this condition are depression, overly stressful situations, being emotionally restricted, obsessive thought patterns, and strict adherence to perfectionist tendencies. Genetic factors include higher risk for developing a disorder if there is a family history of a disorder. There are also suspected ties to brain dysfunction and/or a hormone imbalance possibly contributing to the development of Anorexia Nervosa [CITATION NHS14 l 1033]. The primary cause of eating disorders is the environmental factor. These are evident in activities that young people experience every day. They include bullying, school pressures, stressful life events, bad relationships, deaths of close friends or relatives, and abuse [CITATION NHS14 l 1033]. These occurrences can quickly demolish a young person's self-esteem and lead them to try to find a way to change their outward appearance or to cope with their current situation.