The 4 Differences Between Anorexia And Anorexia Nervosa
Anorexia is understood in popular culture as a synonym for extreme thinness. In part, this is true, it means achieving extremely low body mass indexes caused by not eating enough food or nutrients.
This thinness can be caused by the voluntary restriction of the person, who stops consuming food worried about gaining weight and with the pathological fear of gaining weight, beliefs characteristic of anorexia nervosa, a mental disorder.
However, in some cases there is anorexia without the need for anorexia nervosa. Simply understood as extreme thinness, anorexia can be caused by a medical condition that affects appetite and nutrient absorption.
Next Let’s see how anorexia, a symptom, and anorexia nervosa differ eating disorder.
Main differences between anorexia nervosa and anorexia as a symptom
In popular language, anorexia and anorexia nervosa are two terms used synonymously and interchangeably. In most cases, they are used to refer to what clinical psychologists call anorexia nervosa an eating disorder whose main symptom is a pathological fear of gaining weight, combined with a significant distortion of body image.
But although used as synonyms, the truth is that certain differences can be highlighted between what anorexia is and anorexia nervosa. Although both are strongly related, the truth is that we can highlight certain nuances between organic anorexia, a condition in which extreme thinness occurs caused by problems absorbing nutrients or loss of appetite and anorexia nervosa, of psychological origin in which the patient voluntarily restricts her food intake.
Before highlighting their main differences, it is worth highlighting an important point. Here, to help understand the differences between anorexia and anorexia nervosa, we are going to refer to the former as “organic” or “physical” in the sense that we are referring to the symptom, the medical condition in which a person reaches the extreme thinness, regardless of whether or not there is a pathological fear of gaining weight. In anorexia nervosa itself there is always some problem related to the perception of body image or fear of gaining weight, clearly psychological aspects.
Below we highlight how anorexia and anorexia nervosa differ:
1. Causes
Organic anorexia, understood as a symptom, can be due to several factors. This medical condition is mostly known as a symptom of anorexia nervosa, an eating disorder that, as we have mentioned, its main symptom is the pathological fear of gaining weight. In this specific case, the person fears gaining weight, so he voluntarily restricts his food intake and, as a consequence, progressively loses weight until he reaches extreme thinness, with a BMI (body mass index) no higher than at 18.
Anorexia nervosa is not the only psychological condition that gives rise to anorexia as a symptom. There are other mental disorders that affect the patient’s eating behavior and appetite. The best-known examples of them are depression and anxiety, psychological problems in which some patients completely lose their appetite, which causes them to end up losing weight. Here there is not a problem with body perception, but there is a psychological problem that affects the patient’s eating habits and loses weight as a consequence of them.
Organic anorexia can also be caused by the consumption of certain drugs. Some medications have a side effect of significant weight loss as a result of losing appetite, this being the case of antidepressants and analgesics. Extreme thinness can also be a symptom of certain serious diseases, such as thyroid cancer, gastric cancer or heart failure.
Anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder, in which the patient carries out a voluntary and intense restriction of food intake due to the pathological fear of gaining weight. She sees herself as distorted and overestimates her body size. People who suffer from this psychopathology eat little food, they look for methods to compensate for the calories they have consumed. Some of the most common ways to counteract what they have taken is to use diuretics and laxatives, exercise compulsively, and induce vomiting.
Anorexia nervosa has a psychological origin associated with problems such as childhood trauma, imitation of pathological behaviors of others with food, irrational beliefs about body size and beauty or distortion of body image. In this case, the person is extremely thin due to a dietary restriction, not linked to any medical illness, but with the purpose of not gaining weight or getting rid of what they believe they have too much.
Another difference between organic anorexia and anorexia nervosa has to do with the population that suffers from it. Organic anorexia can occur in anyone since the causes of this medical condition are very varied and not very specific.
It is true that it can be a symptom of anorexia nervosa itself, but it also occurs in people with medical problems without concern for their body shape. Anyone who has a gastrointestinal problem, oncological disease or medical condition in which appetite and nutrient absorption are altered can become extremely thin.
In the case of anorexia nervosa, it is possible to speak of a specific type of population. This eating disorder mainly affects young women, mostly white, who are in puberty. It is not common in Latin and black women, nor in older women, although it can occur. The main reason for this is that in Western societies the idea has permeated that the beautiful woman is one who is very thin, a canon of beauty that has caused many girls to internalize the idea that if they are overweight they are not attractive or socially valid.
3. Associated behaviors
Organic and nervous anorexia can be differentiated behaviorally. In the case of anorexia, there is a loss of appetite, mainly caused by organic body problems (e.g., belly pain, poor absorption of nutrients,…). In this case, the person does not have to be worried about gaining weight, there is simply a loss of appetite that may lead them to eat less or find it uncomfortable to eat the 1,200 to 2,000 calories that is recommended for an adult.
In the case of anorexia nervosa, you eat less consciously and voluntarily. Restriction in food intake acquires characteristics typical of a phobia, since the person can become afraid of food and what they believe it implies for their body. This can be observed in behaviors such as not eating with his family, hiding food to pretend he has eaten it and throwing it in the trash, avoiding having food at home, compulsively drinking water…
Other behaviors associated with anorexia nervosa are induce vomiting and take diuretics and laxatives to eliminate ingested food. Furthermore, the patient may exercise compulsively, not because he wants to be healthy or likes physical activity, but to burn the slightest calorie he has ingested. People with anorexia nervosa are capable of walking thousands of steps a day, doing squats while waiting for the bus or standing for hours to avoid rest and, with it, the much-feared weight gain.
4. Perception of the body
In the case of organic anorexia, When it is caused by a medical condition, the person does not have to have an excessive fear of being overweight or obese. What’s more, the exact opposite of anorexia nervosa can occur: wanting to gain weight.
Excessive weight loss due to a medical problem is something that the patient can experience with absolute concern, wanting to regain the lost weight and reach a healthy BMI. Your calorie restriction is due to a medical problem, not a distorted view of your body shape and the voluntary intention of wanting to be thin.
In the case of anorexia nervosa, the person perceives their body size as larger than it really is That is, she looks fat or at least overweight, even though the scale and other ways of measuring her weight and body size say just the opposite, that she is dangerously underweight. In anorexia nervosa, a strong alteration in body image and fear of gaining weight is present. Under these circumstances, the person restricts food consumption with the main and voluntary objective of losing weight.
