How, and in what ways, are the social and psychological effects of anorexia nervosa as disruptive as the physical toll of the disorder?

What will be an ideal response?

When anorexia nervosa begins in early adolescence, social and emotional development are clearly interrupted by its medical and psychological consequences. The disorder itself and associated symptoms such as depression, anxiety, social withdrawal, difficulty eating in a social situation, self-consciousness, fatigue, and medical complications can lead to isolation from peers and family. Often recovery requires facing challenges that would normally have been faced years before, such as establishing independence from family, developing trust in relationships, and dating and establishing romantic relationships. Anorexia nervosa has dramatic effects on the family both emotionally and financially. Family meals are often a battleground marked by refusal to eat, power struggles about food, and frustration and tears. Parents struggle to understand as their child becomes increasingly unreachable and unable to think rationally about a function, eating, that to them seems a simple fact of life. The needs of siblings and other family members commonly become secondary to the demands of the eating disorder. This, coupled with the enormous expense of treatment, can wreak havoc on the most functional of families.