Addicted to Starvation: The Neurological Roots of Anorexia

Out of the United States population, up to 3.7 percent of girls and women suffer from anorexia. Twenty percent of these young girls and women will die because of it. This high death rate makes anorexia the most deadly mental illness found in young females. Anorexia is characterized by several behaviors: compulsive dieting (or not eating at all), compulsive exercise, obsession, constant pursuit of thinness and constant dissatisfaction with ones own body. Over the years, society continues to blame media, Hollywood, and even families for girls’ ongoing struggle with anorexia. But if it were just the pursuit of a better physique that influenced these women and girls to partake in anorexic behaviors, then why do they continue to afflict themselves with starvation long after their bodies have reached the point of emaciation? Furthermore, culture and environment alone, although capable of great influence, cannot account for an anorexics loss of the necessary survival instinct, that is, to eat as a reaction hunger.
Anorexia is not just a reaction to negative influence; it’s a full blown mental illness. The effects of anorexia go far beyond mere changes in appetite. In fact anorexia can be directly related to a disturbance in the brain’s reward circuitry that causes loss of enjoyment in life’s many pleasures such as: winning a game, vacation, sex, and most importantly eating. This disturbance in the brain’s reward circuitry not only can deprive an anorexic of feeling pleasure when eating, but can in turn generate pleasure when they are being starved. When the majority of population diets, their metabolic rate slows down and they feel tired, sluggish, even agitated. On the other hand, when an anorexic is in a state of dieting (starvation) their metabolic rate actually increases. They feel more alert, energetic, and just better overall. This particular characteristic of anorexia has lead many doctors and scientist to believe that anorexia is underlined by a seemingly dangerous drug addiction, in which case the drug is starvation itself. Like anorexia’s drug, that is, starvation, many drugs of abuse act on the brain’s reward circuitry. These drugs specifically affect a pleasure hub called the nucleus accumbens in order to increase the levels of a neurotransmitter called dopamine, which in turn rapidly promotes good feelings (in the case of abused drugs, causes a “high”). After several tests scientists were able to link activation of the brains reward system to the lack of appetite found in anorexics. This significant connection proves that an anorexic individual is completely capable of linking reward to hunger, therefore, becoming addicted to starvation the same way an individual may become addicted to a drug of abuse.
There are many reasons why one might turn to anorexia (media, pressure, family, depression, control), but there are several biological reasons why a certain individual person may be specifically prone to anorexia. The most common biological reason for being at risk for anorexia is chronic anxiety. About eighty to ninety percent of anorexics report suffering from chronic anxiety before becoming anorexic. Their anxiety brings about a sense of perfectionism which has the consequence of feeling as though one must live up to society’s standards, avoid mistakes, and avoid anything negative. The second reason for the onset of anorexia is hormones, specifically estrogen. Puberty tends to be the most prominent trigger of anorexia. Forty percent of newly reported cases of anorexia are found in teenage girls ages fifteen to nineteen. The final reason for the onset of anorexia is the deprivation of food. A person who has been exposed to starvation over a period of time, such as one who is fasting, or dieting, is susceptible to becoming anorexic as well. Even normal men with no former symptoms of anorexia, began showing anorexic like behavior after going through twenty-four weeks of eating nearly half their normal calorie intake. If anorexia in a normal male could be spawned by deprivation of calories, then there are millions more out there susceptible to this dangerous illness.

My Response:
Having known several persons who have struggled with anorexia, I have sadly witnessed its consequences. For example, one friend of mine is no longer capable of having children because of her inability to quit starving herself. She would constantly get better then relapse again. Until reading this article I didn’t understand why she couldn’t just eat, but it’s so much more than that. After reading this I realize how hard it must be for someone to stop a habit that makes them feel happiness when without it they feel no pleasure. I also realized how dangerous anorexia really is. Before I viewed it as a phase some people go through that you can quit at anytime. Now I see it is a lot like drug abuse, it’s physically and psychologically hard to quit and stay that way. Anorexia is a downward spiral that is close to impossible to get out of, and with so many who are susceptible to it, we must be careful.
Article: Addicted to Starvation