Anorexia nervosa: the risks for adolescents

By Cristiano Antonino On Dec 11, 2022

Anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder (EDC) that frequently emerges in adolescence

The symptoms of anorexia nervosa are:

refusal of food
lack of appetite
weight loss
intense fear of becoming fat
low self-esteem

Anorexia, i.e., chronic lack of appetite, can arise for a variety of reasons and can be a consequence of several diseases; however, in adolescents this usually has psychological causes and is referred to as anorexia nervosa.

Anorexia nervosa and adolescent distress

Preadolescent and adolescent distress is a very sensitive issue that should be approached by parents with the right awareness and preparation.

This, in fact, if underestimated, can lead to the onset of pathological conditions, just like anorexia nervosa.

When adolescent discomfort becomes such that it interferes with the boy’s normal activities (such as precisely eating), it is clear that the causes of the problem need to be identified, before it has harmful health consequences.

Too often, in my experience, I have noticed that there is a tendency to look for general causes to this phenomenon, yet without giving due weight to the role that parents and reference adults play in the adolescent’s development.

Talking about a generation without ideals, or blaming the new modes of technological interaction, is not helpful in understanding the phenomenon of adolescent distress and providing the right answers.

It is only with careful analysis of the problem and the help of specialized figures that one can really help teens, of any generation.

Anorexia nervosa: symptoms and diagnosis

Let us try to understand a little better how the phenomena of adolescent distress can be explained, and in particular the distress that can manifest in an Eating Disorder (EBD) such as anorexia.

Meanwhile, let us see what anorexia is and how it can be diagnosed.

The DSM-5 diagnostic criteria are as follows:

Restriction of calorie intake relative to need, leading to significantly low body weight in the context of age, sex, developmental trajectory, and physical health. Significantly low body weight is defined as less than the minimum normal weight or, for children and adolescents, less than the minimum expected weight.
Intense fear of gaining weight or becoming fat, or persistent behavior that interferes with weight gain, even if significantly low.
Alteration in the way weight or body shape is experienced by the individual, excessive influence of weight or body shape on levels of self-esteem, or persistent lack of recognition of the severity of the current underweight condition.

Childhood trauma and anorexia nervosa

It is well known that the onset of anorexia is more often to be found in girls than in boys and is often just typical of the adolescent period.

Now what we do know is that adolescence is a period of physiological crisis, in which a series of hormonal and physical changes couple with the need to structure one’s adult personality.

Like all crisis periods in the life span, depending on the starting basis, real psychological disorders such as anorexia can be installed.

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There are protective factors and risk factors

If the boy arrives at adolescence from a peaceful childhood that allowed him to build a solid psychological balance, the adolescent crisis is crossed and overcome.

If, on the other hand, the boy has suffered what are called minor attachment traumas in childhood, the adolescent crisis is just the straw that breaks the camel’s back.

Then it is the personal and family history and context that provides the cue for the type of disorder that boys will develop.

Also involved is emulation, which among adolescent boys is a way of developing personality but can sometimes be a source of malaise where it is the symptoms that are emulated.

How does one intervene? With family psychotherapy accompanied by individual interviews with the adolescent who must be helped to overcome the traumas and break free from the family in order to best deal with this crisis and build an autonomous, balanced and healthy personality.