Case Study For Mental Health Nursing Individual With Anorexia Nervosa

Mental Health Nursung Individual Case Study

Risk Factors for the Case Study

Describe about the Case Study for Mental Health Nursung Individual.

Anorexia nervosa commonly known as Anorexia is a serious eating disorder that affects both genders and people of all ages. It is characterized by features like lack of healthy body weight, fear of gaining weight, distorted body image and desire to be thin. The victims of this condition mostly see themselves as overweight even when they are underweight (Sari, 2011; Attia E, 2013). They often weigh themselves, do excessive exercise, eat small amounts of food or not eat at all with the aim of extreme thinness of their body (Sari, 2011). Anorexia is of two types i.e. restricting type whereby the victims restrict themselves from eating certain foods and the purging type whereby the victims lose weight by excessive vomiting or use of laxatives and diuretics.

• Weighing issues-She carefully removes all her clothes and shoes before she weighs herself besides being so careful about the accuracy of the weighing machine. This means that she has the desire to know her weight and want it to be perfect. This is a psychological type of risk whereby she is affected emotionally in case things go as unplanned.
• Bad eating habits-Lindsay has a schedule for taking only water and orange juice every day but not for eating any food. Besides needing water, the body also needs food for it to be strong and healthy but Lindsay is not giving her body that. This is a characteristic associated with individuals undergoing the condition of Anorexia Nervosa whereby the person eats very little or does not eat at all with an aim of reducing body size. They may even undergo starvation for that reason. This definitely shows that Lindsay want to reduce her body size and go to any lengths to get that (Rikani et al., 2013).
• Extreme exercising-According to Lindsay’s parents, exercise is important for body healthiness but according to Lindsay it’s a way of losing weight. She jogs every morning for two hours and takes her exercising sections very serious such that in case one entered the room she would not stop. This shows how much she may not love or appreciate her body size and therefore determined in losing the body weight to attain the size she desires (Nolen-Hoeksema, 2013).
• Self-expression problems- According to the interviewee, Lindsay is unable to describe herself when she is asked to do so and instead she claims that she is overweight. When asked to talk about her diet she gives a two word answer, “its normal”. The claim of feeling overweight even when you are underweight is a risk factor associated with Anorexia. This clearly shows that Lindsay has got problems with her body size and she would so much like to change it.

2: Data That Supports the Inference Client Is Suffering From an Eating Disorder

• She is at her puberty age i.e. 15yrs
• A lot of weight loss for a short period of time i.e. 40lbs in one year
• The client has limited social life i.e. she is lonely
• The client is underweight but claims she is overweight i.e. weighing 90lbs at 15years of age.
• She is experiencing some times of constipation.
• Loss of periods for a while i.e. 5 months
• Has developed eating disorders i.e. no food but drink water and orange juice at specific times of the day.
• She insists on unpacking before talking to her interviewee and she arranges her clothes and personal items perfectly i.e. perfectionism.
• She has difficulty in expressing her feelings i.e. when she is asked about her diet she gives short answers, “its normal” and when asked to describe herself she says she is overweight.
• Her parents are divorced which shows there may be problems in her family relations that is why she lives with her mother and sees her father only once per month.
• She jogs for two hours every day and does extreme exercise

Anorexia Nervosa is a condition which is caused by increased self-starvation with an aim to reduce body weight of approximately 15% or more of the normal body weight while Bulimia Nervosa are usually already at normal body weight (Nolen S, 2014)

In Bulimia, patients are must undergo compulsory purging, a cycle of diet and binge-eating in order to reduce gain during weight loss (Nolen-Hoeksema, 2013). I.e. they are more conscious and less controlling of the weight loss process while in Anorexia the diagnosis exceeds that of Bulimia i.e. the patients assume complete control of the weight loss process (Nolen S, 2014).

Body image is the physical view of a person’s body shape and size e.g. thin

Need for control means the obligation or necessity to take over or lead.

Eating disorders means bad eating habits e.g. eating so little or not eating at all.

The three are related in a way that an individual with a dissatisfying body size or shape will take a step ahead and take control of her eating habits which may lead to development of eating disorders for them to attain the size or shape they desire (NIMH, 2015).

This relationship is applicable in this case study where by Lindsay Smith doesn’t seem to love her body size and so she takes the responsibility of exercising frequently and not eating at all but instead taking water and orange juice only.

Ability to tolerate her feelings-The client should be able to accept and tolerate their feelings and especially the negative ones (NIMH, 2015) e.g. feeling of being overweight. By doing this the client will notice that Anorexia is not solely an eating disorder condition and by tolerating her feelings she will be in position to control her eating disorders.

Data That Supports the Inference Client Is Suffering From an Eating Disorder

Change her mind setting-With the client having the desire to insist in perfectionism (good performer, arranges her clothes and personal items perfectly) it means that she is giving in to the symptoms of Anorexia. So she should try to feel normal and make mistakes whenever and wherever she fail to be right and this will help her to always feel satisfied, worthy and helpful whenever she can.

Develop healthier eating habits-Lindsay should not glue herself to not eating or eating little food and drinking water and orange juice at certain times of the day. Instead she should try and start eating more healthy food than ever before and let go the rules especially with the help of a nutritionist or dietician (Marzola E, 2013; Satherley R, et al 2015).

Self-appreciation-Lindsay may not be appreciating herself especially her body and that’s why she takes the steps to reduce her body weight. She should learn to try and accept her body just as she naturally is and at long last she may end up loving herself too which is a very value in a person’s life.

Ensure that a plan is in place to meet the needs of the patient after they are discharged which includes eating times, medication hours, therapy among others (Halmi, 2013).

Should implement and teach the patient techniques and strategies that will help them cope with anxiety and be able to have self-control (Singleton, Joanne K. 2014).

Ensure that the prognosis, disease process and treatment is well understood by the patient before it’s all done and before discharge (Goldier et al., 2014).

Ensuring that the patient know and understand the side effects of the disease and more so the medication give to them (Quick et al., 2013).

The value of thin bodies- Most of the adolescents of the modern society seem to value and desire thin bodies especially for the ladies and this has led into using even drugs to get what they want (Nolen-Hoeksema, 2014). This certainly makes their ideas differ from what I would teach.

Effect by Western Culture-In most of the Western countries thin bodies and masculine bodies for ladies and gentlemen respectively are viewed as a source of beauty. This therefore make those without to desire that and therefore hard to change their minds and thinking.

Peer Pressure- This comes about when most of the adolescents who surround each other are of a certain body shape or size but one is different. They most probably prefer a certain body size and term it as the best and so this disorients the one who is different (Herpertz-Dahlmann, 2013). It’s hard to change the minds of such groups or believes (Herpertz-Dahlmann, 2013).

References

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Satherley R, Howard R, & Higgs S. (2015, January). Disordered Eating Practices in Gastrointerstinal Disorders. Appetite Review, 84, pp. 240-250.

Shepphird, S. F. (2011). Questions and Asnwers About Anorexia Nervosa. Jones and Bartlett Learning.