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Physical and Emotional Signs of Anorexia Nervosa

Posted Date: 6/26/2009 Blog by: poost
Viewed: 165
 
Category: Mental Health Disorders » Eating Disorders
Anorexia nervosa is a case where the patient starts following extreme measures to lose weight. This can be done by excessive restriction to food intake, by exercising too much, by vomiting out the food taken in, misusing enemas, laxatives, etc. Basically it is a condition that includes all such severe measures taken by an individual for calorie control. However, generally it is done though control of the food consumed.

There are a number of physical signs and emotional signs of anorexia nervosa. Though it may not be very easy to always detect this condition, especially in large families or where the individual does not stay too involved with the rest of the people, the fact that one begins to lose weight at an abnormally high rate could be the first reason for doubt.

Other physical symptoms are discussed hereunder:

Dehydration- One of the most common physical signs of Anorexia Nervosa is dehydration. The body starts suffering because of extreme lack of liquid consumption, especially if the person begins to avoid having water too.

Fatigue
- The body becomes weak, and one of the most obvious results is fatigue. The stamina level falls, and the person begins to feel perpetually tired.

Absence of the menstruation- In females, the menstruation cycle also gets affected, especially if the low food consumption has been a regular feature throughout their lives. It could cause an absolute absence of the menstruation, or it could cause heavy irregularities.

Dizziness and fainting
- The body becomes weak causing dizziness as well as fainting. It is a serious condition that should act as a warning that the energy level of the body has deteriorated excessively.

Brittle nails
- The nails become brittle owing to the lack of nutrients especially calcium. It is also accompanied with a development of white patches on the nails. 

Weakening of hair
- The hair tends to become brittle as well as weak, causing excessive hair loss. This proves that the body has turned extremely weak and cannot support itself properly.


Regular Low blood pressure
- Another symptom of anorexia nervosa is low blood pressure. This is accompanied with headache, fainting and excessive fatigue along with mood swings.

Constipation
-Excessive starvation also causes constipation in the stomach. Therefore, when a person suffers from anorexia nervosa, constipation becomes quite obvious and usual.

While those were the physical symptoms, there a number of emotional symptoms to watch out for as well. Some of the most common emotional symptoms suggesting the condition of anorexia nervosa are:

Lack of emotion
- Anorexia nervosa often causes lack of emotions or what is known as flat mood in the patients. They do not react much to any emotional stimuli such as provocation of irritation, love, etc.

Denial of hunger
-They keep denying hunger in spite of hardly having eaten much for a long time period. They barely eat much, if they eat at all. The hunger subsides easily if felt at all, with just a few spoonfuls of food, marking absolute resistance to nutrition intake.

Difficulty concentrating
- The concentration gets affected too. Be it while doing a mental activity or a physical activity, these people cannot focus on any thing for too long.

Refusal to eat
- A person suffering from anorexia nervosa would constantly refuse to consume food. Even if the food cooked is one of their favorites they would not feel encouraged to eat. They can be heard making excuses of not feeling hungry, or lying about having had a very recent heavy meal. This extreme abstinence form food is a major symptom that proves if the condition of anorexia nervosa is present or not.

Constant weight checking
- They get absolutely obsessed with their body weights, and keep checking their weights regularly, often several times a day. They would keep looking at themselves in the mirror and judging their appearance, and keep asking people around them if they look fat. This extreme obsession with the looks and body weight can often be seen even before anorexia nervosa has completely set in.

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