DSM-IV Diagnosis of Anorexia Nervosa

Anorexia is a well known disorder than plagues young girls everywhere. But few people know the criteria that must be met to actually diagnose anorexia, or anorexia nervosa which is it's full scientific name.

The DSM-IV is the fourth edition of the Diagnostic Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. The American Psychiatric Association publishes the manual that is used by mental health practitioners worldwide to diagnose different mental disorders.

One thing that most people are not aware of is that there are two types of anorexia that are discussed in the DSM-IV. One type is the one people think of when they discuss anorexia and the other type sounds a lot more like bulimia.

First there is the restricting type. This is the most common and most well known type of anorexia. This type of anorexia is marked by strict restraint in eating. A person monitors what they eat and tend to restrict their eating excessively.

The second type is the binge-eating/purging type. An episode of this type of anorexia involves engaging in binge eating and then purging by either vomiting, misusing laxatives or diuretics. So how is this different from bulimia?

The main factor that differentiates this type of anorexia from bulimia is the weight. Someone whose body weight is less than 85% of what it should be, is diagnosed with anorexia. When a bulimic's body weight reaches that point, bulimia is said to become binge-eating/purging type of anorexia.

That is the first criteria for diagnosis of anorexia: being less than 85% of expected body weight. The next criteria is intense fear of gaining weight or becoming fat. Often anorexics can't see themselves as they really are so when they look in the mirror, they see themselves as overweight even if they are dangerously underweight. This is the second criteria for diagnosing anorexia. It involves an irrational view of current body weight or shape and additionally, denial of the seriousness of low body weight.

The last criteria, which also differentiates anorexia from bulimia is amenorrhea in females. This is the absence of three or more consecutive periods. Only anorexics suffer from amenorrhea. This condition usually occurs when the body isn't in-taking enough nutrients to allow the body to menstruate properly.

These are the current criteria in the DSM-IV for diagnosing anorexia nervosa. The diagnosis manual changes with every edition and as more and more becomes known about different mental disorders, and anorexia is no different. Criteria will likely be changed slightly as more research is conducted on the growing problem in society.