Question

Case Study Analysis on Karen Carpenter (eating disorder - anorexia nervosa).

Provide a detailed and long answer with reliable sources.

Answer 1

Anorexia Nervosa also commonly known as Anorexia is a psychological eating disorder wherein an individual lives with a constant and irrational fear of adding weight. It is characterised by abnormally low body weight and compulsive exercise. Individuals suffering from anorexia often perceive themselves as "fat", when in reality they are underweight or have low body weight.

There are two types of Anorexia, namely; Binge and Restrictive.

Binge Type is when an individual goes on a bingeing spree, and eats what comes their way due to overwhelming feelings and later it is compensated by either vomiting, laxatives or maybe even excessive exercise.

Restrictive Type is when an individual limits the quantity of the food to be taken which is below their body's caloric needs.

Anorexia Nervosa can be diagnosed by referring to the Diagnostic Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders(DSM). DSM contains a set of diagnostic criteria which needs to be matched against an individual's symptoms before concluding whether a person suffers from a certain disorder or not.

The following are the criteria to be matched against an individual's symptoms to make diagnoses for Anorexia Nervosa:

(Exact criteria as mentioned in DSM-V)

1. Persistent restriction of energy intake leading to significantly low body weight (in context of what is minimally expected for BMI).

2. Either an intense fear of gaining weight or of becoming fat, or persistent behaviour that interferes with weight gain (even though the significantly low weight).

3. Disturbance in the way one's body weight or shape is experienced, undue influence of body shape and weight on self-evaluation, or persistent lack of recognition of the seriousness of the current low body weight.

An individual needs to meet the above criteria in order to have said to be suffering from Anorexia Nervosa.