Symptoms of anorexia nervosa

Criterion A

• Deliberate weight loss so that weight is below what is expected for age and height (eg in an adult a BMI below 17.5 with less than 15 being an extreme case)

Weighing less than 85% of normal weight

Avoiding food and drink

Criterion B

Criterion B: Intense fear of gaining weight

• Obsession with checking the calorie values of all foods

Tendency to lie about how much they eat

Frightened of the consequences of eating food

• Excessive exercise to stop weight gain

Criterion C

Criterion C: Distorted body image

Do not perceive themselves in the same way as others

Cannot accept the severity of their low body weight

• Grassly overestimate their own body weight

Low self-esteem as body weight is used as a way to evaluate themselves

Types of anorexia nervosa

Restricting: The patient will prevent weight gain or promote weight loss through exercise and fasting (avoiding eating Positive Symptoms: These add to the persons thinking and behavioural repertoire so something extra that was not there before the disorder began. Purging: The patient will prevent weight gain or promote weight loss through vomiting, misuse of laxatives, diuretics and enemas