Mental Disorder

A mental disorder is any form of abnormality in a psychological or behavioral pattern that occurs in an individual. Such a disease affects normal development or his/her human culture. Apparently, mental illnesses are of different types and occur in differing degrees of severity. Out of the various mental disorders, I chose to discuss eating disorder for this assignment. These disorders result from abnormal eating habits of people. They can affect anyone, male or female. Remedies include undergoing behavioral therapy (Keel, 2006).

2.      Symptoms and types of eating disorders

Three main types of eating disorders exist, each of which exhibits specific symptoms. The most common forms of eating disorders are Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa, and Binge Eating. Anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder characterized by weight loss. Excessive dieting often causes it to the point of starvation. People with anorexia see themselves as “fat” and will undergo thorough exercising despite their extreme weight loss (Keel, 2006).

Cycles of extreme overeating mark bulimia nervosa. That is followed by purging to compensate for the overeating. It is associated with feelings of loss of control about eating. Binge eating disorder is characterized by regular episodes of extreme overeating. Like bulimia, it is also characterized by feelings of loss of control about one’s eating habits (Keel, 2006).

3.      Diagnosis

Doctors perform physical, psychological and laboratory evaluations to diagnose eating disorders. Physical diagnosis involves checking weight. Doctors also listen to lungs and heart. Laboratory tests include liver, kidney and thyroid functioning tests, as well as urinalysis. Psychological evaluation involves questioning the patient with the primary goal being to identify their attitude towards food. The diagnostic criteria should be in line with the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (Keel, 2006).

4.      Treatments

Anorexia patients are administered carefully prescribed diets. That may include intake of caloric meals. Depending on the seriousness of the condition, each patient is given a goal weight range. As he/she approaches the ideal weight, more independence in eating habits is allowed.

Counseling therapy is also administered for bulimics. In which group therapy has been found much effective for bulimia patients. Antidepressant medications also apply actually for this condition (Keel, 2006). Binge-eating is treated in a similar way to bulimia and other eating disorders. Psychotherapy is, however, a primary component of successful treatment for this disorder (Keel, 2006).

Part II: Major Eating disorder correlation study

a.      Hypothesis

The underlying null hypothesis of this study was that there is a relationship between self-image and eating disorders.

b.      Participants

Respondents included high school students aged 16 and above from three high schools in Stockholm region. The participants were divided into three groups. The first category was the ‘healthy sample’ in which a total of 338 students completed the questionnaires. The second category was the ‘non-help-seeking sample that constituted of 227 sampled participants. The third group constituted ‘clinical sample’ which included 6384 respondents (Mantilla & Birgegard, 2015).

c.       Research design

The study was entirely correlation with the independent variable being self-image aspects and the dependent variable being symptoms of eating disorder. Questionnaire method was used for data collection (Mantilla & Birgegard, 2015).

d.      Conclusion

The study establishes that there were strong associations between some aspects of self-image and Eating Disorder symptoms in healthy and clinical girls. Among the aspects of self-image that related to eating disorders include self-criticism and low self-acceptance. The research recommended that individuals who suffer these detriments are taught openness, patience, empathy and acceptance. It, however, warns against negative control, criticism and blame as they are causes of low self-esteem (Mantilla & Birgegard, 2015).

e.       Suggestion for future research

The study participants were strictly girls implying that it could be biased. Further studies should follow this to explore the relationship between self-image and eating disorders in males and a mixture and the two genders.

References

Keel K. (2006). Eating Disorders. New York: Chelsea House Publishers.

Mantilla F. & Birgegard A.(2015).The enemy within: the association between self-image and eating disorder symptoms in healthy, non help-seeking and clinical young women.

Sherry Roberts is the author of this paper. A senior editor at MeldaResearch.Com in top custom essay if you need a similar paper you can place your order from custom nursing essay.