Eating Disorders: Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia Nervosa
The American Psychiatric Association (2020), defines an eating disorder as an illness that
causes extreme disturbance to an individual's eating behaviors, thoughts, and perceptions related
to food. Approximately 9% of the US population is expected to suffer from an eating disorder in
their lifetime; eating disorders are among the most dangerous mental illnesses resulting in 10,
200 deaths per year (ANAD, 2020). Eating disorders are caused by a myriad of reasons; key
among these being individual and psychosocial factors. Individual factors comprise genetic,
biological, negative body image factors, emotional, physical, sexual, or emotional abuse (Salafia
et al., 2020). In both Anorexic and Bulimic patients, heritability is a common factor found during
the diagnosis of these disorders. In regards to genetics, the abnormal regulation of some
neurochemicals such as 5-Hydroxytryptamine (HT) and the serotine-transporter-linked
polymorphic region (5- HTTLPR), has previously been associated with eating disorders (Salafia
et al., 2020). Negative body image issues are another individual factor that contributes to a
majority of eating disorders especially among young women; eating too little or bingeing, then
using laxatives or vomiting as a way of eliminating the food from one's system, are some of the
unhealthy habits that these individuals adopt. Approximately 29% of eating disorder cases have
experienced prior sexual abuse while 57% are physically abused victims; additionally, there is a
significant number of these victims who suffer from serious incidences of emotional abuse.
Sociocultural factors stem from families, peer influences, and media; the perception of the
existence of an ideal body shape and type is a factor that has created an illusion that a majority of
individuals, especially young men and women have fallen victim to. In the recent past, eating
The American Psychiatric Association (2020), defines an eating disorder as an illness that
causes extreme disturbance to an individual's eating behaviors, thoughts, and perceptions related
to food. Approximately 9% of the US population is expected to suffer from an eating disorder in
their lifetime; eating disorders are among the most dangerous mental illnesses resulting in 10,
200 deaths per year (ANAD, 2020). Eating disorders are caused by a myriad of reasons; key
among these being individual and psychosocial factors. Individual factors comprise genetic,
biological, negative body image factors, emotional, physical, sexual, or emotional abuse (Salafia
et al., 2020). In both Anorexic and Bulimic patients, heritability is a common factor found during
the diagnosis of these disorders. In regards to genetics, the abnormal regulation of some
neurochemicals such as 5-Hydroxytryptamine (HT) and the serotine-transporter-linked
polymorphic region (5- HTTLPR), has previously been associated with eating disorders (Salafia
et al., 2020). Negative body image issues are another individual factor that contributes to a
majority of eating disorders especially among young women; eating too little or bingeing, then
using laxatives or vomiting as a way of eliminating the food from one's system, are some of the
unhealthy habits that these individuals adopt. Approximately 29% of eating disorder cases have
experienced prior sexual abuse while 57% are physically abused victims; additionally, there is a
significant number of these victims who suffer from serious incidences of emotional abuse.
Sociocultural factors stem from families, peer influences, and media; the perception of the
existence of an ideal body shape and type is a factor that has created an illusion that a majority of
individuals, especially young men and women have fallen victim to. In the recent past, eating
