Background: Anorexia nervosa (AN) is a serious and complex form of eating disorder that causes physical and mental suffering, as well as it is a growing social problem. How the disease manifests itself is individually, but most often it occurs together with other psychiatric disorders. It becomes very important for the nurse to have knowledge of anorexia nervosa because the disease can be fatal without treatment.

Aim: The purpose of the study is to describe people's experiences of anorexia nervosa.

Method: A literature-based study using qualitative content analysis was used as a method. A five-step analysis of Friberg (2012) was used.

Results: The findings that emerged from the analysis shows that they can be applied to the nursing profession. These findings formed four main themes: control, the battle be-tween two worlds, understanding and the quest for the perfect self.

Conclusion: The nurse must, among other things have an understanding of the underly-ing causes of anorexia nervosa to be able to treat people with AN, both physically and mentally. To recover requires the individual to have an understanding of their condi-tion and its underlying causes.