People suffering from 'anorexia nervosa’

Anorexia nervosa is a serious eating disorder and psychiatric condition characterized by self-starvation and a relentless pursuit of thinness. Individuals with this condition deliberately restrict their energy intake relative to their body's requirements, leading to significantly low body weight [1]. This dieting behavior is primarily driven by an intense, irrational fear of gaining weight or becoming fat, even when the individual is already underweight. Behavioral symptoms include eating only very small amounts of low-calorie foods and, in some cases, excessive exercise or purging behaviors. While severe malnutrition from anorexia can eventually lead to physical complications like muscle weakness or heart problems, the defining characteristics are the psychological obsession with weight and the behavioral restriction of food intake. Options such as paralysis, poor reflexes, or speech impediments are not primary diagnostic symptoms of this eating disorder.

Sources

1. [1] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK459148/