The study involves the simple questions I had, why my best friend did this to herself and all the people that cared about her. Some of the questions were: what are the typical Eating Disorders, who gets an Eating Disorder, the psychological characteristics of an Eating Disorders, emotional characteristics, medical characteristics, physical problems and the eventual treatment of an Eating Disorder.
Significance of the study of Eating Disorders.
The significance of my study is to find out exactly what life wrenching disease had taken my best friends' life. Finding out what causes them, and learning more about Eating Disorders, incase another person close to me gets involved in an Eating Disorder. Never in my life would I wish this disease upon anyone, it is like a leech it sucks the life out of you and when you get to far into the disease it will not be too long before you die.
Chapter Two Literature.
Section One.
What are the Eating Disorders?.
Anorexia.
We often define Anorexia Nervosa as a form of self-starvation leading to excessive emaciation, usually resulting from a morbid fear of becoming fat or losing control of one's behavior. Anorexia comes from the Greek and it means "a loss of appetite."" "Primary- or "Retrictive,"" anorectic achieves and maintains their low weight through fasting and sometimes through excessive exercises (Maloney, 1991). Anorexia is a vicious weight loss that begins when the victim goes on a diet (Maloney, 1991). Even after losing as much as one-fourth of their body weight, "anorexics say that they feel fat,"" (Erlanger, 1985). People with Anorexia Nervosa refuse to eat not because they are afraid to do so, but they are afraid of weight gain, afraid of becoming fat, afraid of losing control (Palmer, 1989).
Anorexia is said to be, "caused by the results of psychological disturbances,"" (Wolhart, 1988, Pg. 54). Pointing out that the symptoms of Anorexia are self-starvation, and emaciation.