{"id":5841,"date":"2021-12-09T23:15:15","date_gmt":"2021-12-09T23:15:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/enorcerna.com\/wiki\/psychology\/the-4-types-of-anorexia-causes-symptoms-and-treatment\/"},"modified":"2021-12-09T23:15:15","modified_gmt":"2021-12-09T23:15:15","slug":"the-4-types-of-anorexia-causes-symptoms-and-treatment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/enorcerna.com\/wiki\/psychology\/the-4-types-of-anorexia-causes-symptoms-and-treatment\/","title":{"rendered":"The 4 types of anorexia (causes, symptoms and treatment)"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Eating disorders, known by its acronym TCA, have become an increasingly recognized and frequent reality in recent years. This type of psychopathological disorders are characterized by the appearance of symptoms related to disorderly eating<\/strong>. This type of symptomatology varies depending on each person and the particular eating disorder they are experiencing, the two most common being anorexia and bulimia nervosa.<\/p>\n

Although the most obvious features of these problems are related to food, the truth is that these are something like the tip of a huge iceberg. The appearance of eating disorders is rooted in emotional problems in which the person's emotional ties, their family environment, their self-esteem, their early experiences, among others, come into play.<\/p>\n

In general terms, the symptoms that characterize an eating disorder stem from an inappropriate relationship that the individual maintains with food and with their own body. In addition, there is a clearly distorted perception of it and a tendency to overestimate the importance that the silhouette has in relation to the global value that one has as a person. The typical TCA tonic is a deep obsession about diet and the body<\/strong>In such a way that the entire life and existence of the patient ends up being based on the disorder itself.<\/p>\n

What exactly is anorexia?<\/h2>\n

Particularly, in this article we are going to focus on anorexia nervosa (AN). In addition to the common features that AN shares with the rest of eating disorders, this disorder has certain important defining characteristics.<\/p>\n

Patients with anorexia have, first of all, a severely distorted view of their body image<\/strong>. This leads to them feeling fat and even dirty or heavy, despite being under the weight considered normal according to their age and constitution. To this is added a very intense fear of the possibility of gaining weight. This terror ends up conditioning his whole life, since the fear of gaining weight dominates all the decisions and actions that are carried out.<\/p>\n

For example, they may start using the stairs at home instead of the elevator so that they can burn more calories or refuse to go to dinner with friends so as not to eat food that makes them \u201cfat\u201d. In this way, a dynamic begins by which countless everyday situations are avoided, which contributes to the patient ending up withdrawing into herself, absorbed in her obsession with not gaining a single gram of weight.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, it is common for patients with anorexia deny that they suffer from any kind of problem<\/strong>. That is, they lack awareness of the disease, so in the first moments it is especially difficult for them to go to a professional to receive the treatment they need. This denial of what is happening can provoke an aggressive response on your part, which can strain and wear down your relationships with others, especially those closest to you. The refusal to accept that there is a real problem can imply, in the most severe cases, the denial of basic needs.<\/p>\n

Thus, not only is the sensation of hunger ignored, but other physiological signals such as thirst or sleep also take a back seat. The AN ends up absorbing all the energies of the person, who is unable to think or do anything other than what his TCA dictates. For this reason, other aspects such as social relationships or sexuality are relegated to the background. Sex does not generate any interest and even produces rejection, since sexual encounters involve exposing the body, letting it be touched and seen, and all this is lived as an intolerable experience when suffering anorexia.<\/p>\n

How is anorexia classified?<\/h2>\n

Now that we have described the most essential defining characteristics of anorexia, let's learn what types of anorexia exist. The truth is that the typologies that have been established so far have been an attempt to divide reality into closed categories that do not really adjust to the complexity of clinical reality.<\/p>\n

Talking about types of anorexia is somewhat difficult, since usually the patients present mixed symptoms and even experience changes over time<\/strong> as far as the presentation of the disorder is concerned. For this reason, the types of anorexia can function as a kind of guide, although they do not at all accurately reflect what happens in clinical practice.<\/p>\n

The types of anorexia and the way in which they have been differentiated have varied between the fourth and fifth edition of the DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders). The DSM is nothing more than a classification system for mental disorders, which collects the descriptions of the different diagnostic categories so that clinicians can diagnose, study and treat these disorders.<\/p>\n

This is updated from time to time, so modifications are added if deemed pertinent. We are going to analyze the changes that have been applied between the two most recent editions<\/strong> as far as the classification of the types of anorexia is concerned.<\/p>\n

1. DSM-IV<\/h3>\n

The fourth edition of the DSM was published in Spain in 1994. At that time, it was considered that anorexia nervosa could be differentiated into two types:<\/p>\n

1.1. Restrictive-type anorexia<\/h4>\n

This type of anorexia is one in which the individual does not binge or purge (induce vomiting, use laxative products, diuretics or enemas ...). This type of anorexia is really \"difficult\" to achieve, since there is a very strict food restriction<\/strong>, with exacerbated control that leads the person to limit their caloric intake to a minimum. In this case, this trend is never broken with moments of \"uncontrolled\" in the form of binges and purges.<\/p>\n

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1.2. Compulsive \/ purgative anorexia<\/h4>\n

In this type of anorexia, the individual does regularly resort to purging and bingeing<\/strong>, so that, although the basis of the disorder is the search for control through a strong food restriction, the person at certain times resort to bingeing or purging. In this case, when we talk about binges, these do not usually imply an intake as uncontrolled and voracious as that observed in bulimia.<\/p>\n

Although these behaviors appear in this type of anorexia that remind us so much of bulimia, both disorders (bulimia and compulsive \/ purgative anorexia) are differentiated by other emotional characteristics. Patients with anorexia tend to show a tendency to try to control their life tightly through food, they tend to be emotionally flat and are highly disciplined, responsible and even academically brilliant, although very limited in the social sphere.<\/p>\n

But nevertheless, in bulimia emotional instability is usually observed<\/strong>, with great ups and downs, a lot of explosiveness and sudden changes in the way of behaving, being able to alternate stages of great openness and sociability with others of seclusion and depressive symptoms.<\/p>\n

2. DSM-5<\/h3>\n

In the fifth edition of the DSM, published in 2013, some modifications are added to the way of classifying the types of anorexia nervosa. As in the previous edition, the two types of anorexia are preserved: restrictive and purgative, the essential difference of which is that in the first there are no binges or purges and in the second there are.<\/p>\n

However, in this edition a novelty is added that did not appear in the previous one, and that is the differentiation between anorexia in partial remission and total remission.<\/p>\n

2.1. Anorexia in partial remission<\/h4>\n

This type of anorexia is one in which, after having previously met all the necessary criteria to receive a diagnosis of anorexia, the patient is able to regain a normal weight, although she continues to fear gaining weight<\/strong>, adopting behaviors that interfere in some way with weight gain or perceiving their own body in a distorted way.<\/p>\n

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2.2. Anorexia in total remission<\/h4>\n

This type no longer represents a disorder in itself, it represents the total state of recovery. The patient no longer shows any of the characteristics of anorexia<\/strong> and he is healthy both physically and mentally.<\/p>\n

The distinction between anorexia in total and partial remission is of enormous importance to professionals and represents how much progress has been made when it comes to understanding EDs. Decades ago, when this type of psychopathology began to emerge, the Health professionals were unaware of the complexity of these problems and took measures that were not always correct.<\/p>\n

Weight regain was usually associated with the end of the problem. However, nothing could be further from the truth. The recovery of normal weight is an essential first step in order to achieve the complete end of the TCA, but it is not nearly enough. Once a normal and healthy weight has been achieved, it is necessary to work on all the underlying issues at a psychological level<\/strong> They represent the true root of the problem.<\/p>\n

In eating disorders, eating symptoms is only a reflection of everything that happens on an emotional level. Food becomes the tool to express needs and desires that otherwise have not been met. Therefore, until these emotional issues have been addressed and worked on, it is not possible to speak of a recovery. Otherwise, relapse and return to underweight is more than likely and it is easy for the problem to become chronic.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

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