This document contains a comprehensive set of detailed notes taken from the textbook for PSY 325 (Psychological Disorders;(Chapters 1-5, 7-9, 11-13, 15, 17). The notes summarize key concepts, theories, and findings discussed in the chapters required for the course, providing a structured and access...
• Rates of dieting and weight dissatisfaction continue to increase in adolescent girls
○ One in four adolescent females is actively dieting to lose weight
○ Weight concerns and disordered eating behaviours extend through the lifespan
• The driving force behind most people's attempts to eat less is the desire to be more attractive
and increase their self-esteem
• There are three specific types of eating disorders: anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge-
eating disorder
○ Anorexia nervosa is characterized by a pursuit of thinness that leads people to starve
themselves
○ Bulimia nervosa is characterized by a cycle of bingeing followed by extreme behaviours to
prevent weight gain
○ People with binge-eating disorder regularly binge but do not engage in behaviours to purge
what they eat
• Much more common among women than men
○ Has been an increased emphasis on men attaining a superfit look
○ On average, men want to be much more muscular than they actually are
• Men who develop eating disorders generally display the same symptoms as women who develop
the disorders and both have high rates of depression and substance abuse
• Men are more likely than women to have histories of being overweight and of bingeing before
their anorexia or bulimia nervosa developed
Anorexia Nervosa
• People with anorexia nervosa starve themselves, subsisting on little or no food for very long
periods, yet they remain sure that they still need to lose more weight
• Diagnosis, Prevalence, and Prognosis of Anorexia Nervosa
○ The diagnosis of anorexia nervosa requires that a person refuse to maintain a body weight
that is healthy and normal for his or her age and height
○ A person's weight must be at least 15% below the minimum healthy weight for his or her
age and height
○ In women and girls who have begun menstruating, the weight loss causes them to stop
having menstrual periods, a condition known as amenorrhea
○ The DSM-IV-TR specifies that both intentional extreme weight loss and distorted thoughts
about one's body are key features of anorexia nervosa:
1. Refusal to maintain body weight at or above a minimally normal weight for age and
height (e.g. weight at least 15% below minimum healthy body weight)
2. Intense fear of gaining weight or becoming fat, despite being underweight
3. Distortions in the perception of one's body weight or shape, undue influence of body
weight or shape on self-evaluation, or denial of the seriousness of the current low body
weight
4. In females who have reached menarche, amenorrhea (absence of at least three
consecutive menstrual cycle)
○ Those with anorexia believe they are good and worthwhile only when they have complete
control over their eating and when they are losing weight
○ The weight loss causes people with anorexia to be chronically fatigued, yet they drive
themselves to exercise excessively and to keep up a gruelling schedule at work or school
○ People with anorexia often develop elaborate rituals around food
○ About 1% of people will develop anorexia nervosa at sometime in their lives, and between
90% and 95% of people diagnosed with anorexia nervosa are female
Psychological Disorders Page 1
, 90% and 95% of people diagnosed with anorexia nervosa are female
○White women are somewhat more likely than Black women to develop the disorder
○Usually begins in adolescence, between the ages of 15 and 19
○Usually fully recover ten years after treatment
○The death rate among people with anorexia is 5% to 8%
▪ The most common cause of death was suicide
▪ The most serious consequences of anorexia are the cardiovascular complications,
including bradycardia (extreme slowing of heart rate), arrhythmia (irregular heart
beat), and heart failure
▪ Also, acute expansion of the stomach, to the point of rupturing
▪ Low estrogen levels affect bone strength
▪ Kidney damage has been seen in some patients with anorexia
▪ Impaired immune system functioning may make people more vulnerable to severe
illnesses
• Types of Anorexia Nervosa
○ People with the restricting type of anorexia nervosa simply refuse to eat as a way of
preventing weight gain-attempt to go for days without eating anything
▪ People with this are more likely to have deep feelings of mistrust of others and a
tendency to deny they have a problem
○ The other type is the binge-purge type of anorexia nervosa, in which people periodically
engage in bingeing or purging behaviours
▪ Different from bulimia nervosa in at least two ways
1) People with the binge-purge type of anorexia continue to be at least 15% below a
healthy body weight, whereas people with bulimia nervosa are typically at normal
weight or somewhat overweight
2) Women with binge-purge anorexia often develop amenorrhea, whereas women with
bulimia nervosa usually do not
□ A person with the binge-purge type of anorexia nervosa does not engage in
binges in which she eats large amounts of food; if she eats even a small amount
of food, she feels as if she has binged and will purge this food
▪ More likely to have problems with unstable moods and impulse control, with alcohol
and other drug abuse, and with self-mutilation
▪ Tend to have more chronic courses of the disorder
Bulimia Nervosa
• The core characteristics of bulimia nervosa are uncontrolled eating, or bingeing, followed by
behaviours designed to prevent weight gain from the binges
○ A binge occurs at a discrete period of time, such as an hour or two, and involving eating an
amount of food that is definitely larger than most people would eat during a similar time
and in similar circumstances
○ The average binge is about 1500 calories
○ What makes that a binge for people with an eating disorder is the sense that they have no
control over their eating, that they feel compelled to eat, even though they are not hungry
○ The criteria for a binge include a sense of lack of control over eating
• People with bulimia nervosa regularly binge eat and then attempt to avoid gaining weight from
their binge:
1) Recurrent episodes of binge eating, characterized by both of the following:
a. Eating, in a discrete period of time (such as within a two-hour period), an amount of
food that is definitely larger than most people would eat during a similar period of
time and under similar circumstances
b. A sense of lack of control over eating during the episode
2) Recurrent inappropriate behaviours to prevent weight gain, such as self-induced vomiting;
misuse of laxatives, diuretics, enemas, or other medications; fasting; or excessive exercise
3) The binge eating and inappropriate purging behaviours both occur, on average, at least
Psychological Disorders Page 2
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