Feb
4
Anorexics
February 4, 2010 |
Anorexics don’t eat; but that doesn’t mean they lack an appetite. Indeed, anorexics often display an obsessive interest in food. A typical anorexic will read about food, shop for, cook, and constantly think about food, in fact, will do everything with food except eat it.
According to the American Psychiatric Association, from one-half to one percent of women between ages 15 and 30 suffer from anorexia. The number of cases appears to have increased in recent decades, although it is not clear whether this is due to an actual increase or better reporting. More deaths are attributed to anorexia than any other psychiatric disorder.
Anorexics have usually been described as high-achieving, perfectionist, and compliant white adolescents from comfortable or affluent families. The stereotype has its limits, however. Increasingly, cases are being reported among African Americans and Hispanics. Those studying the spread of anorexia and other eating disorders have found that while age and gender are closely related to development of eating disorders, ethnic background and economic status are not.
