Eating disorders can be classified into bulimia nervosa or anorexia nervosa. These psychopathologies, while sharing some similar characteristics, are contrasting in many ways. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Although bulimia nervosa and anorexia nervosa are both highly dangerous disorders, anorexia nervosa is the more life-threatening. This psychopathology has the highest morality rate among all mental health disorders. Anorexia causes high levels of malnutrition and extreme weight loss due to food restriction (Agüera et al., 2015). People who suffer from anorexia nervosa experience low self-esteem, anxiety, resentment, and/or loneliness. Clinical depression, bipolar disorder, alcohol abuse, or substance abuse are common among patients with anorexia (Frozena & Schub, 2015). Body dissatisfaction is common among both young and adult women, but anorexia is not. Ninety percent of anorexia patients are women and the average age is seventeen. Risk factors for anorexia nervosa include perfectionism, negative self-evaluation, negative parental perspectives of body weight, and a history of sexual abuse. Patients with anorexia tend to come from upper-middle-class families, with parents who are overly concerned with fitness and maintaining a healthy body and lifestyle, and often have poor interpersonal relationships. This psychopathology does not discriminate based on race, and although it was once believed to only affect Caucasians, studies have shown that anorexia is just as likely to affect people of other ethnicities such as blacks or Hispanics (Frozena & Schub, 2015). There are a few different forms of signs and symptoms in anorexia patients, which include physical, behavioral, and psychological. Physical signs and symptoms include low body mass index, constipation, abdominal pain, dehydration, muscle weakness, cold intolerance, dry skin and hair, infertility and more. Behavioral signs include careless weight control, unmonitored abuse of laxatives and diet pills, self-induced vomiting, eating at odd intervals, cutting food into small portions, and eating alone or slowly. The psychological symptoms of anorexia nervosa are substance abuse, depression, social withdrawal, suicidal thoughts, insomnia, and irritability (Frozena & Schub, 2015). Bulimia nervosa consists of recurrent episodes of binge eating. There are two types of bulimia nervosa: purging and non-purging. Patients with bulimia nervosa will consume abnormally large amounts of food in a two-hour period due to stress, intense hunger, or unhealthy perceptions of body image and food. The fear that all patients with this psychopathology share is the intense fear of gaining weight, therefore they adopt behaviors that prevent weight gain after the binge. Patients who fall into the purging category will force themselves to vomit or even abuse laxatives and weight-loss drugs. Patients who do not purge will lose weight by fasting or exercising excessively (March & Schub, 2015). One percent of the general population is diagnosed with bulimia nervosa, with an average age of nineteen. This psychopathology affects 1 to 3% of young adults. For every male affected by bulimia, there are also ten women affected. It can be difficult for doctors and psychiatrists to diagnose bulimia because patients usually hide their behaviors and are not very forthcoming (March & Schub, 2015). Bulimia nervosa can be, 1996).