Anorexia Nervosa, Case Study
1. The case study.
Christine is a sixteen year old girl who has severely restricted her dietary intake. She is currently forty nine kilograms and height 163cm. Her mother says she was 60kgs six months ago.
In form three, at age fifteen, Christine was removed from the public school she was attending and put into a private school, where she was awarded the dux prize. She did not have any friends during this year as she spent all recesses in the library, reporting that ate alone as she ‘had no friends to eat with anyway’. Her mother says that she attends roller skating sessions up to five nights a week and believes she does this to lose weight. She is pre-occupied with food and is constantly cooking for the family. She does not sit down with the family to eat, saying that she has eaten enough while cooking. An argument with her parents precipitated the diet as she decided that there was ‘one area of her life that she could control and that was what she ate’. She has commenced medication for sleep stating that she is unable to sleep after studying till late at night. She recently took an overdose of sleeping pills and whilst in Emergency Department expressed a desire to die.
The family live on a ten acre block and are ten kilometres from town. Her father is an accountant. Her mother is a school teacher and has a diagnosis of bipolar affective disorder. She says she fights a lot with her mother and does not seem to be able to please her father. Her brother, two years younger, left home to join the navy earlier this year.
2. Provide a summary of the diagnosis and describe the course of the illness.
Wozniak, Rekleiti and Roupa (2012) outline early signs of anorexia nervosa (AN); preoccupation with food, weight and calories; rigidity and rituals around eating, avoidance of family meals, denial of hunger and excessive exercise. As it progresses the patient may seem withdrawn, absent sense of humour, angry and depressed and no longer spending time with friends. The patient
Christine is a sixteen year old girl who has severely restricted her dietary intake. She is currently forty nine kilograms and height 163cm. Her mother says she was 60kgs six months ago.
In form three, at age fifteen, Christine was removed from the public school she was attending and put into a private school, where she was awarded the dux prize. She did not have any friends during this year as she spent all recesses in the library, reporting that ate alone as she ‘had no friends to eat with anyway’. Her mother says that she attends roller skating sessions up to five nights a week and believes she does this to lose weight. She is pre-occupied with food and is constantly cooking for the family. She does not sit down with the family to eat, saying that she has eaten enough while cooking. An argument with her parents precipitated the diet as she decided that there was ‘one area of her life that she could control and that was what she ate’. She has commenced medication for sleep stating that she is unable to sleep after studying till late at night. She recently took an overdose of sleeping pills and whilst in Emergency Department expressed a desire to die.
The family live on a ten acre block and are ten kilometres from town. Her father is an accountant. Her mother is a school teacher and has a diagnosis of bipolar affective disorder. She says she fights a lot with her mother and does not seem to be able to please her father. Her brother, two years younger, left home to join the navy earlier this year.
2. Provide a summary of the diagnosis and describe the course of the illness.
Wozniak, Rekleiti and Roupa (2012) outline early signs of anorexia nervosa (AN); preoccupation with food, weight and calories; rigidity and rituals around eating, avoidance of family meals, denial of hunger and excessive exercise. As it progresses the patient may seem withdrawn, absent sense of humour, angry and depressed and no longer spending time with friends. The patient
References: Repper J. & Perkins R. (2003) Social Inclusion and Recovery: A Model for Mental Health Practice. Bailliere Tindall, London. Wozniak, G., Rekleiti, M., & Roupa, Z. (2012). Contribution of social and family factors in anorexia nervosa. Health Science Journal, 6(2), 257-269. Retrieved from http://0- search.proquest.com.alpha2.latrobe.edu.au/docview/1030135729?accountid=12001