Having dry skin and cracked lips, struggling to focus, and hypotension are symptoms of Anorexia Nervosa. While talking to Maria, I noticed that her skin was dry and her lips were chapped. Having chapped lips, being fatigue, and dry skin is a sign for slowed metabolism and ketoacidosis. In addition, she is not consuming enough food nor water. If Maria does not consume enough food and water, her body will shut down her integumentary system because her body …show more content…
She does not want to let her parents down by not earning good grades. It is a lot of pressure to be the first person out of her entire family to go to college. She feels guilty and a burden for going to college because of the expenses her parents have to pay. Having this kind of pressure could have resulted Maria to starve herself as a coping mechanism. Since Maria is nineteen years old, she needs to be the one to tell her parents privately about her disordered eating unless she gives me permission to speak to them instead. Although it might be frightening, planning ahead to speak in person will benefit Maria’s recovery by most likely seeking treatment early (Becker, Thomas, Franko, Herzog, 2005). She needs to be honest to her parents about how she developed her eating disorder such as, letting them know that she feels like a burden because she is in college, the pressure she feels as an athlete and student. I will reassure her that there is no wrong way to speak to them. But if it is too difficult for her to speak out loud to her parents, she can also write a letter to them and be in the same room while they read it. If Maria does not feel comfortable speaking to her parents, I can speak to her parents about her eating disorder with her permission. It is common for parents to sigh in relief after finding out their son or daughter does not have a full eating disorder (Thomas & Schaefer, 2013). In