Anorexia nervosa
An eating disorder characterized by weight loss and restrictive eating.
Quick answer
Anorexia nervosa is a serious eating disorder involving severe restriction of food intake, intense fear of weight gain, and distorted body image. Evidence-based eating disorder therapy is essential; nutritional rehabilitation, somatic therapies, and holistic support complement specialist clinical care.
Do any of these feel familiar?
- Anorexia nervosa is experienced as a deeply complex interplay of psychological, emotional, and physical symptoms
- Many people describe a pervasive preoccupation with food, weight, and body shape that dominates conscious thought
- The restriction of food is experienced not as suffering but, in the early stages at least, as control and achievement — a source of identity and safety
- Physical effects — extreme fatigue, cold intolerance, hair loss, dizziness, and a cessation of menstruation — often feel secondary to the psychological need to maintain restriction
- Many people describe profound fear around eating or weight gain
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