Eating Disorders Case Study Essay Project
hello I need help with answering some questions on different case studies. determining if they have an eating disorder or not and why.
Case Studies
Case Study 1
Jill: Jill is a 16-year old white adolescent who is the star of her high school track team. Her mother brought her to the therapist’s office because of significant recent weight loss. Jill has also become a vegetarian and would often skip meals, saying she had already eaten or would eat later. Because she was an excellent student and had never been a problem, Jill’s parents let things go on for too long, Jill was now moody and irritable and looked extremely thin. In fact, at a recent weigh-in at the doctor’s office revealed she was 102 lbs. at her 5’8” height. Jill was no longer menstruating. Her periods had stopped about a year ago but she didn’t think much of it because other girls on her track team also no longer menstruated. She had not told her parents this information. Jill was pleasant and somewhat reserved and stated that she thought she looked fine and really did not understand why her parents were so concerned. When looking over a food inventory, it revealed that she was eating approximately 800 calories a day. She was resistant to add more when it was suggested. Jill denied any laxative use, vomiting, or other forms of purging but did seem to exercise to excess even though she was on the track team. Jill frequently did more than the regular required workouts. She also expressed concern that if she weighed any more, it would adversely impact her socially.
Discussion questions:
Does Jill meet criteria for an eating disorder?
On what do you base your decision?
Case Study 2
Henna: Henna is a 30-year old, married woman, who was being evaluated for residential treatment care. She was a bright, articulate, career woman who had a history of both drug use and eating problems. She had recently completed treatment for drug and alcohol abuse but upon returning home could not get her binging and purging under control. She had continued her bulimia while in the drug treatment program, but the staff had not noticed because she hid it very well. Now without her drugs she felt out of control, and all kinds of painful images of a past sexual abuse were emerging. Henna found herself binging and purging three to four times a day and could not work or even get herself to therapy appointments. According to her treatment records, Henna was approximately 5’6” and 230 pounds. Henna was obsessed with her weight and thought about losing weight most of the waking hours. Sometimes she believed that if she did not lose weight, she would not be able to live in her body. Henna’s husband said that he had no idea the eating disorder was that bad but because the drugs and alcohol were gone he thought perhaps she was using this now more than ever to cope. Henna seemed very motivated for treatment and believed the last piece of work she had to do to really get well and lead a healthy life was to get rid of her eating disorder.
Discussion questions:
Does Henna meet criteria for an eating disorder?
On what do you base your decision?
Case Study 3
Maggie
Maggie is an African American college student who was normal weight but constantly preoccupied with her weight and overall appearance. She dieted frequently and would even vomit occasionally after a big night with friends, where she drank a bit too much. She never binged. The thought of it horrified her, and she swore she would never do that. Maggie has stopped getting her period even though her weight of 112# was normal for her 5’ 3.5 in. frame. She had skipped her period for about the last 3 months, but it had been irregular before that for about a year. She was constantly counting calories and found it difficult to eat anything with fat in it at all. She had become obsessed with fat when her father had gone on a very strict diet after having a heart attack. Maggie would occasionally drink, but this was rare. She was becoming increasingly isolative because she did not want to go out for fear of having to face food. Even seeing others eat food was difficult. Her daily calories ranged from approx. 500 to 1500, depending on the day. Her food choices had become very limited, with lots of frozen yogurt, protein bars, coffee drinks, salads, and occasional sushi. Maggie was tearful as she described a feeling of never being safe, not knowing what to eat, and not ever feeling comfortable in her body.
Discussion questions:
Does Maggie meet criteria for an eating disorder?
On what do you base your decision?
Case study 4
Jake
Jake is a 36 year old Italian man who had been over weight his whole life. He had first been to obesity camp when he was 10 years old. No diet has ever worked for very long. Jake’s mother was obese and he had hated seeing her unhappy and depressed. He remembered watching as a child when people would tease her and she would cry. Jake swore he would never be like his mother. As Jake got older he stopped caring so much about how heavy he had become. He gave up dieting and started to go the opposite direction, eating whenever and whatever he wanted. He read books that said he needed to stop dieting and learn how to eat intuitively. So he did. He ate what he wanted, which was pasta and ice cream and bread and butter and cream sauce and cream pie and chocolate bars. He also ate a lot of it. Jake did not seem to know when he was hungry or full. To him it seemed like he was hungry or eating. Jake said he felt out of control around food and often times when he was eating. He admitted to spending so much money on food he was going into debt. He felt ashamed and found himself increasingly isolated from family and friends. This caused Jake to continue to gain weight, and at his first appointment Jake had no idea what he weighed. He wanted to have some idea so we tried my scale with his back to the number so he could not see it. The scale registered its full amount, 350 #, but we could not determine how much more he might weigh. Eventually, we found a horse scale on which to weigh Jake, and he weighed 450 #. Jake was serious about treatment. He knows he had an eating disorder besides being overweight, and he wanted treatment for it.
Discussion questions:
Does Jake meet criteria for an eating disorder?
On what do you base your decision?