Letting Ana Go, written by an anonymous teen tackles the ongoing problem of anorexia in this true story. Ana is an athlete with a tremendous future ahead of her but, when losing a few pounds turns into an uncontrollable disease her world is turned upside down. With her best friend by her side they both spiral down this path, nearly dying several times she decides to try and get better. This plan doesn’t follow through when a girl has too much to say Ana and her friend both decide to lose weight again. Back to their old habits, it’s worse than ever. One day Ana goes on a jog to her best friend’s house but half way there she collapses. Her body gave up the disease won she was gone. Letting Ana go is a new favorite of mine. This book is in the …show more content…
I think that it's raw uncut version really gets you into a state of being one with the book. I think anybody going through what Ana did or through a rough time should read this book. It really helps you understand the severity of what could happen if you keep going down the same path Ana did. Although this book is not suited for every age group it has mature content that may be disturbing to some age groups. I think this book is best suited for teens who understand that a disease like this can't be controlled and can understand the book thoroughly without feeling extremely depressed about what the author was going through. I think this novel is amazing. It was one of the most real books I've ever read that is what you can expect from a diary it's like you were friends with the person and you wanted something to remember them by so you read it. It will take you on a roller coaster of feelings and make you feel like you're personally connected to the main character. It makes your heart throb and your eyes tear up. However this book is mature and contains some teenage content associated with anorexia which may not be suited for every person. Overall I would definitely recommend anybody who's looking for a passageway into your inner emotions to read this book because frankly that is what it does. Letting Ana Go is an astounding novel that everyone who is suited for the book should read because it will forever stay with you and help you in the future if you do happen to develop a mental health disorder cause it will remind you of what might
I think that this book sends a very important message, it tells the reader about the dangers that adolescent girls face and survive every day. It also gives many different perspectives on issues that teens face because she gives us her own opinion and also those of her patients and their parents. I think that the reason this book is so eye-opening is because it gives you the honest truth, it's not candy coated. She tells stories that really happened, and the reality of the book is one of its best qualities.
The book Stick Figure A Diary Of My Former Self is a personal journal written by Lori Gottlieb when she was 11 years old suffering from anorexia nervosa. “Anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder that causes people to obsess about their weight and the food they eat.” (mayclinic.com) Most eating disorders are physiological due to friends and family, stress, and the social media. Anorexia nervosa, like all other eating disorders, is extremely dangerous and unhealthy for the human body to endure. Although eating disorders are destructive to one's life, is there explainable reasoning behind why a person may have one?
The sociological essay “Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia” authored by Penelope A. McLorg and Diane E. Taub examines how predisposed conceptions lead to a perception of a person through a specific lens. These preconceived notions in turn lead to labeling by society. Once an individual is labeled, that characterization dictates his or her actions. The authors argue that since little of a person’s identity is self-made, the label becomes the most powerful part of them.
“Anorexia: The Cheating Disorder” by Richard Murphy discusses two instances the author was suspicious of students plagiarizing their work, as well as the damage plagiarism can cause to everyone involved. Murphy was an associate English professor at Radford University (898) and has experienced many attempts at plagiarism, describing it as “a thin wood splinter in the edge of one’s thumb” (899). That feeling is irritating and can’t be ignored until it is removed, so the author is obsessive about discovering the sources of plagiarism. While his thesis that when plagiarism occurs there is a disconnect in the relationship between student and professor is true, his incessant drive to unearth the truth at the expense of understanding every case individually is concerning.
“Fighting Anorexia” and “cookie monster” are two different articles based on research by some group of psychiatrists that focuses on eating disorder, which in psychology is referred to as a mental illness. Anorexia nervosa is a mental condition that describes a person’s obsession with food and the acute anxiety over weight gain (Newsweek cover, 2005). This disorder is categorized by an individual’s phobia on what to eat and what not to eat; as a result, the person begins to starve his or her self just to avoid adding more weight. The article published on the “Cookie Monster” expatiate on a research that describes how food is being used by some individuals to change their mood (McCarthy, 2001). This research shows that individuals especially college students try to subdue their emotions through the use of sweets and cookies. To further understand of these two experimental research in both articles, some important questions will be answered below.
Kidney failure, heart problems, spleen dysfunction, bone and muscle loss, and finally death; these are only a couple of the deadly effects associated with anorexia and bulimia. As Mim Udovitch states, “About one in 200 American women suffers from anorexia; two or three in 100 suffer from bulimia.” (Udovitch 557) Through the combined works of Mim Udovitch and Lisa D. Galynker, the message was made clear and both sides of eating disorders were argued. In A Secret Society of the Starving Udovitch keeps a tone of anti pro-ana (against pro-anorexia) throughout the entire story. She repeatedly talks about pro-ana websites and how ridiculous and crazy they are. Udovitch is very persuasive with her choices of words and personal interviews. According to Galynker, Udovitch has a “dispassionate description of the girls and the “pro-ana” Web sites.” (Galynker 564) While Udovitch takes a reporter’s view upon the subject, Galynker takes the view of a trained medical Psychologist. Although Galynker and Udovitch discuss the same subject, their views and opinions are entirely opposed throughout the entire essay.
Satire Local Anorexic Still Way Too Fat? Staten Island, New York- Despite years of intense dieting and vigorous exercise, local anorexic Lucy Fernandez is still excessively fat. Reported Monday to the Staten Island Advance, Fernandez, who stands five feet and weighs approximately ninety pounds, is still overweight and needs to lose a few pounds. “I cannot believe how gross I look,” said the obese Fernandez, examining herself in a full-length bathroom mirror.
Anorexia is a condition that goes beyond out-of-control dieting. This psychological disorder initially begins with dieting to lose weight. The excessive drive to lose weight becomes secondary to the concerns about control and fear of one’s own body. An adolescent continues an endless cycle of controlled eating which is then often accompanied by other psychological and emotional behaviors. In an FDA consumer special report, Dixie Farley states, “the anorectic becomes obsessed with a fear of fat and losing weight[…] she sees normal folds of flesh as fat that must be eliminated[…] Anorectics are described as having low self-esteem and feeling that others are controlling their lives. Some may be overactive and her obsession increasingly controls her life. It’s an addiction.” A teenage girl with anorexia often restricts her dieting, sometimes to a point of starvation in order to feel control over her body. As she keeps dieting, a domino of emotional and psychological stress begins to affect her body and the endless cycle of restrictive eating and over exercising begins to lead to depression. In the end, this depression ultimately leads to a cycle that becomes an obsession and an addiction.
Out of all mental illnesses found throughout the world, eating disorders have the highest mortality rate. Anorexia nervosa is one of the more common eating disorders found in society, along with bulimia nervosa. Despite having many definitions, anorexia nervosa is simply defined as the refusal to maintain a normal body weight (Michel, 2003). Anorexia nervosa is derived from two Latin words meaning “nervous inability to eat” (Frey, 2002). Although anorexics, those suffering from anorexia, have this “nervous inability to eat,” it does not mean that they do not have an appetite—anorexics literally starve themselves. They feel that they cannot trust or believe their perceptions of hunger and satiation (Abraham, 2008). Anorexics lose at least 15 percent of normal weight for height (Michel, 2003). This amount of weight loss is significant enough to cause malnutrition with impairment of normal bodily functions and rational thinking (Lucas, 2004). Anorexics have an unrealistic view of their bodies—they believe that they are overweight, even if the mirror and friends or family say otherwise. They often weigh themselves because they possess an irrational fear of gaining weight or becoming obese (Abraham, 2008). Many anorexics derive their own self-esteem and self-worth from body weight, size, and shape (“Body Image and Disordered Eating,” 2000). Obsession with becoming increasingly thinner and limiting food intake compromises the health of individuals suffering from anorexia. No matter the amount of weight they lose or how much their health is in jeopardy, anorexics will never be satisfied with their body and will continue to lose more weight.
Chapter 25 mentions how, "anorexia and bulimia have emerged as a major health and social problems as well as bulimia affects 13 percent of college students, anorexia was 0.6 percent among college students and how the mortality rate of anorexia was 6 to 20 percent whereas; bulimia appears to be less life-threatening" (Chapter 25, pg. 286). Chapter 25 also mentions how, "eating disorders are most common among young, white middle to upper class women" (Chapter 25, pg. 286).
Referring back to the symptoms and warning signs of Anorexia Nervosa , these young women explained methods and ways they tried to self-harm. Some examples of signs of Anorexia Nervosa include, withdrawal from friends and activities, low self-esteem, feelings of guilt after eating, abuse of diuretics, and the intense anxiety of gaining weight. Each of these four women showed these signs and more throughout their treatment. I was surprised to learn that after they left the treatment facility, they relapsed and went back to being underweight. Another thing that also caught my attention was Alisa’s drawing of her body. She labeled everything that was wrong with her such as saddlebags, muffin top, and areas that she needed to tone up just to name a few. Each woman mentioned that their goal was to be thin. The thought of weighing more than a hundred pounds was the worst thing they could
Hornbacher, Marya. Wasted: A Memoir of Anorexia and Bulimia. New York, NY: HarperCollins, 1998. Print.
While in a lecture hall of about one hundred students – realize that three out of those one hundred students are struggling with either Bulimia or Anorexia-Nervosa, the most dangerous eating disorder in the world. The documentary, “Dying To Be Thin,” first airing in 2000 and created by NOVA, dig deeper into the world of what the concept “having an eating disorder” is truly about. With the ages fifteen to twenty-four being the most vulnerable ages to form an eating disorder, the documentary explores women like “Heidi,” who died at the age of twenty-two, and a woman named “Katy,” who overcame her Anorexia and found new passions in life.
Some may consider this book biased, but I consider this book to be a true, well written story of a woman who struggled and who never gave up. A story that actually used her diary entry that was implemented into the chapters. The author gave the reader the opportunity to see how hard her life was and how she withstood all that came at her, in a way that makes this book an inspiration not only for women but rather for all of us.
The desire to lose weight has seemingly grown as common as the desire to breathe. A disease that lures an individual in, chews them up and spits them out with many more problems than they started is nonchalantly thrown around, often with little regard to its true meaning. This is our society’s new normal. There’s a boatload of false information circulating anorexia, which is characterized by “an abnormally low body weight, intense fear of gaining weight and a distorted perception of body weight.” Mayo Clinic. Adding to the chorus of eating disorders that are inaccurately portrayed is the movie Starving in Suburbia, which features a 17 year old girl named Hannah Warren. Hannah develops anorexia after a friend on her dance teams introduces her to a thinspiration website. As if the thinspiration website spreads as easily as the flu does, Hannah “catches” Anorexia.