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Atypical Anorexia

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Atypical Anorexia (AAN) is a legit but highly specific Eating Disorder sub-type that started being misused for social media reasons in May, 2021.

HAES-supportive nutritionists, wellness advisors, and other non-physicians from within the ballooning "not-weight-loss" industry hand out the AAN "diagnosis" like a "get out of jail free" card for morbid obesity.

This social media trend harms the person (by not seeking further real medical advice) and harms those in the actual ED-supportive community due to the public now considering AAN as fake ED or joke.

Practically, one with actual AAN has quickly lost a lot of weight, is still being driven by an intense fear of weight gain, uses Pro-Ana behaviors and methods, and (despite achieving a normal weight) still wishes to lose further toward an "anorexic" < 17.5 under weight BMI.

AAN is not a "diet", nor failed attempt at dieting declared as "recovery" from "anorexia".

This identity-politics-driven misclassification of a specific real disorder, Binge-eating Disorder (a type of OSFED) into an entirely different class of eating disorders (Anorexia) could be considered grounds for medical malpractice.

However, the "wellness advisors", "nutritionists" and "intuitive eating specialists" that most commonly hand out AAN affirmations are not a regulated field like the practice of medicine or psychiatry, and are not subject to malpractice.

Such a false-diagnosis of Atypical Anorexia is considered to be Tessorexia.
Tessie: I briefly flirted with a diet and excercise for weight loss, but realized from my social media followers that the whole concept of ob*sity is a dirty patriarchal word and that the "BMI" scale itself is racist. "I am a recovering anorexic."

Sasha: Going on a diet and quitting is NOT "recovering" from Atypical Anorexia. I've seen your channel. You clearly demonstrate eating disorder behavior, but it's called "binge eating disorder". Lots of real people suffer from that. There are legit medical and mental health treatments available for that eating disorder.

Sasha: Unless the DSM-5 requires a special secret decoder ring or red-tinted sunglasses (like out of the back of a cereal box) then no, no you don't. If you're just trying to stay "relevant" to your social media followers because of your "brand" and otherwise reject the BMI scale itself then the only "rexia" you have is a social-media condition called Tessorexia.

anorexia 

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Anorexia Nervosa, A serious mental disorder, where people (usually females) have a strong need to lose weight, a feeling that they're never good enough, often self-inducing starvation, excessive exercise, and many times engaging in other self-destructive behaviors.
People do not realize that Anorexia is a disease, and lord knows that if I could just "get rid" of it I would. It is HELL.

DSM-IV criteria include:

-Failure to maintain a minimally healthy weight, feeling they are too fat even though underweight
-Anorrhea(Loss of 3 or more consecutive mestural cycles)

Health Risks include:

anemia
osteoporosis
malnutrition
hypoglycemia
loss of hair
lowered body tempature
Lanugo (growth of fine hair on the back and arms due to lack of fat to warm the body)
dark bruises around the eyes due to protien deficiency
ulcers
tearing of the intestines due to lack of food

Anorexia is a REAL eating disorder.
anorexia by wendy lane May 23, 2003

anorexia 

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A mental disorder where a person feels a strong desire to lose weight. Contrary to belief, when an anorexic person looks in the mirror they don't see something different. They see themselves, but in an extremely over-analyzed way, and they focus in on the fat that they have. It's not about being fat, but HAVING fat, rather. For most people with anorexia, getting rid of fat is getting rid of failure and 'becoming pure'. These people usually are perfectionists in one way or another. A lot of them also have a lot of trouble saying no, and are afraid of not pleasing those around them.
Anorexia is different from dieting. It is not self-induced. It is not caused by looking at pictures of Nicole Richie and deciding that you'd like to be glamorous and look just like her. It's a disease which is, basically, hell.
anorexia by rory318 October 4, 2005

Anorexia Nervosa 

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Anorexia Nervosa (AN) essentially refers to a mental illness affecting both genders, but primarily females, whereby an individual has irregular perceptions of their body image. This causes them to develop extreme trepidation at the prospect of weight gain, dieting, starving themself, frequent exercise and calorie counting which subsequentally gives them what is known as emaciation. It requires inordinate amounts of mental and physical concentration and efforts if one wishes to conquer it, although they never really "conquer" it as it is still in them somewhere. Similarly, people with this eating disorder tend to have a very low body mass index (bmi), usually 16 or lower to the point where they may need a feeding tube. If it gets to the point where it gets below fifteen, without serious treatment, the patient will die, at least it is very feasible!
My friend is suffering from the eating disorder, Anorexia Nervosa.

anorexia 

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A disease. It can't be "snapped out of". People don't realise that you don't have to be a living skeleton to be anorexic, you just have to be obsessed with losing weight.
Anorexia is pure hell, and no-one choses to inflict it upon themselves.
anorexia by emily laura June 23, 2005

anorexia 

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Anorexia Nervosa is a severe eating disorder that afflicts primarily young women, although men are also known to suffer from it.

Anorexia (from the Greek a- without; and orexis- appetite) is merely a symptom of Anorexia Nervosa in which the victim feels, largely from poor role-models, that they must become bone-thin in order to be considered attractive or to be accepted. From there, they abolutely refuse to eat, for fear of gaining too much weight and then being unable to lose it; they excercise constantly, trying to flush the fat (or lack, thereof, in most cases) from their bodies.

In some extreme cases, a layer of fur will grow on the sufferer's body to keep him/her warm; because they have lost so much body fat, they can no longer insulate themselves.

Many sufferers even hear a voice in their heads telling them how fat they look (despite the obvious fact that they are sickly and wasted away to almost nothing), thus further discouraging them.
Like depression, anorexia nervosa and bulimia are not things that one can "get over". They are illnesses that require help. And poor role-models from the media, from peers, and from parents make the problem worse.

Barbie would be anorexic if she were a human... she wouldn't even have the 17 to 22% of body fat required to menstruate. If she were human, she'd have to be 7'2'', 130 pounds, and 40-18-33. Hell, she'd have to crawl on all fours just to support her unnatural proportions.

Misinformation: Anorexia was the ancient Greek goddess of withering and starvation.
anorexia by Lorelili December 28, 2005
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