What is Anorexia Nervosa?
Anorexia nervosa is a severe and potentially fatal eating disorder that involves an irrational dread of weight gain and a distorted perception of body image that causes people to eat very little food. People with anorexia nervosa are usually underweight, but they still believe they are overweight and need to lose weight or avoid gaining weight through dieting or exercising. This disorder not only impacts the physical health of the individual and results in malnutrition, osteoporosis, and organ damage but also has severe effects on the mental health of the individual and is commonly associated with anxiety, depression, and obsessive-compulsive disorder. Anorexia is a complex illness that needs to be treated holistically in order to address the physical as well as the mental aspects of the disease.