MODEL RELEASED. Anorexia nervosa. Abstract image of a teenage girl with tape measures over her mouth holding her head in her hands. This could represent an eating disorder such as anorexia nervosa or bulimia. In anorexia nervosa (or slimmer's disease") there is an intense fear of being fat, wilful avoidance of food and severe weight loss. It mostly affects teenage girls and young women. Hospital treatment is often necessary to help sufferers gain weight. Psychotherapy may be needed after reaching a normal weight to try to prevent relapses. In bulimia, the fear of being fat leads to binges of over-eating and self-induced vomiting."