Essay on "Eating Disorders: DSM-V"

Essay 5 pages (1683 words) Sources: 1+ Style: APA

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Interestingly enough, and in another contradiction in terms of diagnostic criteria, while weight remains a very significant determinant of diagnosis in anorexia (and in bulimia, too, given that an underweight bulimic may gain the diagnosis of 'anorexic, purging type), it is not so in binge eating disorder. A person may engage in binge eating, not compensate with purging, and still receive the diagnosis, although there is obviously a stereotype that persons who overeat must be overweight.

In actual practice, very few people perfectly embody the clinical type of an eating disorder in an enclosed fashion. "Eating disorder diagnoses are snapshots in the course of an eating disorder. It is not uncommon to encounter individuals who initially met the diagnostic criteria for anorexia nervosa, then those of bulimia nervosa and now have a mixed state. Technically speaking, they have had three distinct psychiatric disorders (anorexia nervosa, then bulimia nervosa and now eating disorder NOS), whereas both common sense and the individual's subjective experience suggest that they have had a single eating disorder that has evolved over time" (Fairburn & Cooper 2011). Eating disorder NOS is no longer a category in the DSM-IV precisely because it has been considered too vague a designation. It has been replaced with Other Specified Feeding or Eating Disorder (OSFED), which may encompass disorders such as atypical anorexia (anorexic behavior without underweight status) or short-duration bulimia which does not meet the criteria of frequency of purging required by the diagnosis.

However, rather than obsessing over specific times for purging or specific weights, a better and all-encompassing definition might simply be to judge disordered eating based upon the distress felt by the sufferer and the degree to which quality of life and normal social functioning was impacted. Too many persons who do not have a marked enough physical change may fall through the cracks with the present diagnosis while other mentally healthy people with unusual but not self-destroying habits like athletes might unintentionally be classified.

References

DSM-V. Retrieved from:

http://www.eatingdisorders.org.au/eating-disorders/what-is-an-eating-disorder/classifying-eating-disorders/dsm-5#bulimia

Fairburn, C. & Cooper, Z. (2011). Eating disorders DSM-V and clinical reality.

The British Journal of Psychiatry, 198: 8-10 doi: 10.1192/bjp.bp.110.083881 READ MORE

How to Reference "Eating Disorders: DSM-V" Essay in a Bibliography

Related Essays:

Explore the Individuals Experience of Night Eating Syndrome and How it Affects Their Life Research Proposal

Night Eating

Explore The Individuals Experience Of Night Eating Syndrome And How It Affects Their Life

Night Eating Syndrome

The Individual's Experience of Night Eating Syndrome and how it Affects… read more

Research Proposal 23 pages (7427 words) Sources: 4 Topic: Nutrition / Diet / Eating

---

Mental Disorder Major Depressive Disorder in Children Essay

Mental Disorder

Major Depressive Disorder in Children and Adolescents

Research on childhood and adolescent mood disorders has advanced significantly in recent years. It is now no longer common to find… read more

Essay 10 pages (4992 words) Sources: 10 Topic: Psychology / Behavior / Psychiatry

---

Panic Disorder During Pregnancy and Postpartum Period Term Paper

Panic Disorder during Pregnancy and Postpartum Period" (Bandelow, Sojka, et al., 2006), researchers interviewed 128 Caucasian women about panic disorder. The participants were blind to the intent of the study,… read more

Term Paper 5 pages (1880 words) Sources: 4 Style: APA Topic: Child Development / Youth / Teens

---

Treatment of Women Diagnosed With Dysthymia Term Paper

Treatment of Women Diagnosed With Dysthymia

This proposal for a clinical case study of the treatment of a woman diagnosed with dysthymia employs a cognitive behavioral approach to identifying effective… read more

Term Paper 48 pages (13264 words) Sources: 1+ Topic: Psychology / Behavior / Psychiatry

---

Diagnosis of Famous Person With Disorder Term Paper

Diagnosis of a Famous Person

Vincent Van Gogh (Famous Person with Disorder)

Vincent Van Gogh -- a Case History

Vincent Van Gogh was a Dutch artist born in 1853 in… read more

Term Paper 10 pages (3288 words) Sources: 1+ Topic: Psychology / Behavior / Psychiatry

---

View 100+ more related papers  >>