Psychology 3331 Abnormal Psychology Exam 4 Study Guide Chapter 11 Eating Disorders Anorexia Nervosa extreme weight loss Disorder marked by the pursuit of extreme thinness and by o DSM IV TR qualifications for Anorexia Nervosa Refusal to maintain a body weight ideal for their weight and body leading to a body weight that is 85 less than what is expected Intense fear of gaining weight despite being underweight Distorted body perception places too much emphasis on weight and body shape in self evaluation denial of severity of current low weight Amenorrhea loss of menstrual cycle o Two types of Anorexia Nervosa Restricting Type Anorexia Nervosa Restricting food consumption Binge Eating Purging type Anorexia Nervosa Forced vomiting after meals laxative use after meals frequent eating binges o 90 95 of Anorexia Nervosa cases occurred in females o Peak onset age of 14 18 years old o 0 5 3 5 of females in western cultures will develop Anorexia Nervosa o Losing weight is the goal fear of weight gain is the motivation o People become obsessed and preoccupied with food Plan all meals Talk about food constantly Dream of food o Starvation Study In the late 1940 s there was a study conducted with 36 normal weight subjects They were placed on semi starvation diet only allowed to eat half of the calories they would normally consume Subjects became obsessed with food they planned all their meals only talked about food and some reported even dreaming about food o People with Anorexia Nervosa often display other psychological disorders like depression anxiety insomnia sometimes substance abuse OCD o Medical issues associated with Anorexia Nervosa Amenorrhea Low blood pressure Decreased heart rate Reduced bone mineral density Lanugo a fine silky hair that grows all over the body Bulimia Nervosa compensatory behaviors to avoid gaining weight Disorder marked by frequent eating binges followed by forced o DSM IV TR qualifications for Bulimia Nervosa Recurrent episodes of binge eating Recurrent inappropriate behavior in order to prevent weight gain Symptoms persisting at least twice a week for two months Undue influence of weight or body shape on self evaluation o Binge An episode of uncontrollable eating where someone consumers an extreme amount of food o After a binge one will engage in some sort of compensatory behavior o Two types of Bulimia Nervosa Purging type Bulimia Nervosa Vomiting abusing laxatives enemas Non Purging type Bulimia Nervosa Excessive exercise fasting o 90 95 of cases occur in women o 15 21 years old is peak onset age o Unlike Anorexia Nervosa weight remains relatively unchanged o Binge eating disorder Not listed in the DSM IV TR one engages in binge eating behavior without the subsequent compensatory behavior o People with Bulimia Nervosa tend to engage in 1 30 binge episodes per week 1 000 10 000 calories consumed per binge episode Anorexia Nervosa vs Bulimia Nervosa What Causes an Eating Disorder o Both commonly begin after a period of dieting o Both are driven by a fear of gaining weight o People with either disorder are at a heightened risk of committing suicide o People with Bulimia tend to be more concerned with pleasing other people they tend to be more sexually active and experienced tend to have a longer more complicated history of mood swings when compared to people with Anorexia Nervosa o Only half of women with Bulimia Nervosa develop amenorrhea o Multidimensional risk perspective Theory that identifies risk factors that are thought to combine and result in a disorder The greater number of factors present the greater the chance of developing the disorder o Psychodynamic perspective on Eating Disorders Disturbed mother child interactions lead to ego deficiencies which lead to serious perceptual disturbances which manifest themselves as an eating disorder The psychodynamic perspective thinks that there are two types of parents Effective Parents Parents who correctly respond to their child s biological and emotional needs o Child is crying due to hunger Parent feeds them o Child is crying due to fear Parent comforts them Ineffective Parents Parents fail to correctly respond to their child s needs o Child is crying due to hunger Parent incorrectly interprets their crying as fear and comforts the child leaving the child hungry o Child is crying due to fear Parent incorrectly interprets their crying as hunger and feeds child leading the child to associate eating with a time of anxiety Ineffective parents cause children to not know how to interpret their own internal feelings and desires People with eating disorders are often have alexithymia difficulty describing interpreting their feelings o Cognitive Perspective on Eating Disorders Improper labeling of needs and desires feeling of no control over one s own life BUT they feel as if they have full desire of their body and their weight These deficiencies lead to cognitive distortion which leads to eating disorder o Biological Perspective on Eating Disorders Relatives who are helping a family member through an Eating Disorder are 6x more likely to develop an Eating Disorder If identical twin has Anorexia the other is 70 more likely to develop a Anorexia as well 20 in fraternal twins If an identical twin has Bulimia the other is 23 more likely to develop a Anorexia as well 9 in fraternal twins Research has found that there is a link between genes that produce serotonin and eating disorder People with an eating disorder have observable low levels of serotonin NOTE People with an eating disorder often have other psychological disorders like depression anxiety OCD These disorders all are linked to low serotonin levels so it s possible that the low levels in eating disorder patients are due to that Possible link in the Hypothalamus Hypothalamus regulates bodily functions There are two areas in the hypothalamus that control eating o Lateral Hypothalamus LH side areas of hypothalamus produce hunger when activated o Ventromedial Hypothalamus VHM bottom middle of the hypothalamus reduce hunger when activated These areas are activated by appetite suppressing chemicals o Cholecystokinin CCK o Glucagon like peptide 1 Scientists believe that hypothalamus and chemicals work together to keep individual at weight set point o Weight Set Point weight level that a person is predisposed to maintain When someone s weight dips below their weight set point the Lateral Hypothalamus seeks to restore weight by When someone s weight surpasses their