Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary defines anorexia nervosa as "a .
serious disorder in eating behavior primarily of young women in their teens and .
early twenties that is characterized especially by a pathological fear of weight .
gain leading to faulty eating patterns, mal-nutrition, and usually excessive weight .
loss" (48). .
The main thing that Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary did not state .
was the fact in which why many women, and a small number of men, turn to the .
disorder of anorexia nervosa. For many people it is a disorder within ones self .
and not only in the mind. For some the disorder takes over the patient and they .
no longer have control of their body. In the Journal of Counseling and .
Development the authors state that patients of anorexia nervosa can be effected .
by their roles in which they play in society. The author also says that anorexia .
nervosa is a representation of Western culture's obsession with the ideal image .
of being thin (Rogers, Petrie 138).
Anorexia nervosa is not only a women's fear of gaining weight, but also .
more of a disease. The fear of gaining weight becomes so set in the mind .
of the victims to anorexia nervosa that it can take over every thought in a persons .
mind from the moment that they rise each morning to the moment they go to .
sleep each night. Rogers and Petrie state that an anorexic persons refusal of .
food can be interpreted as an indirect attempt to assert his or herself and control .
his or her hostility. An anorexic patient's hostility is indirectly expressed through .
anger on their body (138).
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According to an article in Patient Care, there are three obvious criteria .
characteristics in diagnosing an anorexic nervosa patient. The first characteristic .
is a refusal to maintain a minimal and normal body weight. An anorexic nervosa .
sufferer may count the peas on the dinner plate and only eat one third of the .
peas, so that they feel as though they are not over eating.