Anorexia nervosa

an eating disorder primarily affecting adolescent girls and young women, characterized by pathological fear of becoming fat, distorted body image, excessive dieting, and emaciation.
Contemporary Examples

Marie took her own life on January 19, just two months after her daughter Isabelle succumbed to the effects of anorexia nervosa.
Isabelle Caro: Anorexic Model Dies, Her Mother Commits Suicide. How Should the Fashion Industry Respond? Barbie Latza Nadeau February 6, 2011

Historical Examples

Thus, for example, there exists in adult life a disturbance of the nervous system which is called “anorexia nervosa.”
The Nervous Child Hector Charles Cameron

n.

“emaciation as a result of severe emotional disturbance,” coined 1873 by William W. Gull (1816-1890), who also proposed apepsia hysterica as a name for it. See anorexia.

anorexia nervosa anorexia nerv·o·sa (nûr-vō’sə)
n.
A psychophysiological disorder usually occurring in teenage women, characterized by fear of becoming obese, a distorted self-image, a persistent aversion to food, and severe weight loss and often marked by hyperactivity, self-induced vomiting, amenorrhea, and other physiological changes.
anorexia nervosa
(nûr-vō’sə)
An eating disorder characterized by a distorted body image, fear of becoming obese, persistent aversion to food, and severe weight loss and malnutrition. It most commonly affects teenage girls and young women, who often develop amenorrhea, osteoporosis and other abnormalities.
anorexia nervosa [(an-uh-rek-see-uh nur-voh-suh)]

A psychosomatic disorder in which the sufferer refuses to eat and undertakes activities (such as self-induced vomiting) to bring about extreme weight loss. Anorexia, which is also characterized by a distorted self-image, occurs most often in young women aged twelve to twenty-one and may result in death if medical treatment is not obtained. Treatment for anorexia often includes extensive counseling to reveal underlying emotional problems.