“Body Image” Eating Disorders are a range of mental health problems. People that suffer from an eating disorder find their relationships, daily activities and basic health is affected. All ages and sexes can suffer. But eating disorders, such as Bulimia Nervosa or Anorexia Nervosa, are generally found in adolescent girls and young women. Anorexia Nervosa affects less than one percent of adolescent girls and young women, whereas, Bulimia Nervosa affects two percent. Approximately five percent of people with Anorexia are male. One main alleged cause is the media for their portrayal of young men and women and using unrealistic body shapes. Anorexia Nervosa is generally a preoccupation with thinness even though they themselves are underweight. It is also the most fatal of all mental illnesses. The symptoms found with Anorexia Nervosa may include distorted thoughts of their body (thinking they are more overweight than they are), they have a drive for thinness, they fear weight gain, excessive weight control (Such as restricting food, over exercising, vomiting and misuse of laxatives) and loss of periods in young women and delayed starts for adolescent girls. Bulimia Nervosa involves cycles of binge eating followed by behaviours to prevent weight gain. Some symptoms of Bulimia Nervosa include fasting and frequent changes in weight. Bulimic people fast for long periods of time, then so overcome by hunger they over indulge and feel as though they have lost control over themselves. They then feel guilty and undertake extreme measures to lose the weight they may have just put on by self inducing vomit or using other substances (diet pills, laxatives, Etc.) People that suffer from either disorder can recover, taking on average two ye... ... middle of paper ... ... out society. People need to be aware of its affects and that it is a serious psychological condition. The media has a huge impact on society’s views of outer beauty and they need to notice the affect it is having on younger women and men. If magazine editors are aware completely on the strong impression they are impressing on today’s generations they can move this industry forward to show peoples full inner beauty. http://kidshealth.org/teen/food_fitness/problems/eat_disorder.html http://www.something-fishy.org/dangers/dangers.php http://www.something-fishy.org/memorial/memorial.php Sunday Mail, May 13 2007, “Teen switch to gym worry” page 26 Sunday Mail, May 13 2007, “Six girls tell us what they think of body image” page 26 1998 Learning Essentials, Pretty Stupid. Women’s magazines and body image. 1996 Learning Essentials, Eating Disorders, THE FACTS.
Bulimia and anorexia Nervosa, the two most common eating disorders in the world, and neither of them are at all healthy. Even Though bulimia and anorexia are quite similar, they have many differences that set them apart. The main difference between the two is that bulimia is where a person eating an excessive amount of food in a short period of time, followed by purging all of the food out of guilt. Anorexia is where you barely eat, have a strict diet, and workout excessively. Just with a brief description, this just barely scratches the surface of this whole topic of bulimia and anorexia. We will begin by looking at the similarities of bulimia and anorexia.
Anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder that involves extreme weight loss, restricted food intake, and an intense fear of becoming fat. The American Psychiatric Association outlines four diagnostic criteria for anorexia. The first is refusal to maintain body weight. The second is intense fear of gaining weight or becoming fat, even though underweight. The third is denial of the seriousness of low body weight. The fourth is in postmenarcheal females, amenorrhea, for example the absence of at least three consecutive menstrual cycles.
Many citizens in the United States and other parts of the world fight with weight and body image issues. Most exercise and eat healthy to help their problems. Some take a more unhealthy and sometimes deadly route. An estimated five million people are affected by eating disorders each year (Alters & Schiff, 2003, p.36). Eating disorders are more common among females. At least three percent of women have some type of an eating disorder (Alters & Schiff, 2003, p.36). Eating disorders are classified as persistent, abnormal eating patterns that can threaten a person?s health and well being. There are three major types of eating disorders: anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and compulsive overeating.
A variation of Anorexia, Bulimia ranges from excessive food intake, to an out of control compulsive cycle of binge eating where extraordinary amounts of any available food, usually of high carbohydrate content, may be consumed. Once having gorged, the victims are overcome with the urge to rd themselves of what they hate eaten by purging themselves, usually by vomiting, and sometimes by massive doses of laxatives. Between these obsessive bouts, most are able to accept some nutrition. Whereas the anorexic sufferer fears fatness from anticipated loss of eating control, and unlike the anorexic sufferer the typical bulimic individual is not emaciated, but usually maintains a normal body weight and appears to be fit and healthy.
Bulimia Nervous, as defined by the National Eating Disorders Association, is a serious, potentially life-threatening eating disorder characterized by a cycle of bingeing and compensatory behaviors such as self-induced vomiting. It affects 1 - 2 percent of the adolescents and young adults. About 80 percent of the people it affects are female. Many people struggling with Bulimia Nervous also struggle with depression and social phobias. The disorder is often shortened from Bulimia Nervosa to just Bulimia. Many people do not understand the severity of the Eating Disorder (ED) at hand. Many people will brush it off as if the sufferer is just wanting attention. What many people do not understand is that, the sufferer has a warped body image and they are suffering mentally and physically with this disorder. Having Bulimia, you binge, and eat your desired food, then you realize the mass of intake and you purge, either through vomiting, exercise, or laxatives. This vicious cycle is a sensation and becomes very addictive which leads the person to the severe disorder of Bulimia Ne...
These conditions are commonly seen as only affecting females ranging from the middle- to upper-class, and we often imagine sufferers as extremely thin and frail. However, this is an enormous misconception. Although the most common Eating Disorders, Anorexia Nervosa (AN) and Bulimia Nervosa (BN) mostly affect females, an estimated 10 to 15%, or 1-2 in every 100 Anorexics and/or Bulimics are males, and Binge Eating Disorder affects both males and females equally (National Eating Disorders Association).
The three most commonly known eating disorders of today are anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge eating. Anorexia nervosa is a disease connected with abnormal eating; it is not brought on by excitement, delusions, overactivity or a bad habit, it is a mental illness. Development of anorexia usually starts in the early teenage years, however it can go undiagnosed for thirty to even forty plus years. Another eating disorder is bulimia, people who are bulimic have no time to think about daily life; all that is on there mind is their next meal. Someone who has bulimia often l...
"Anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder on an overwhelming dread of becoming fat. The result of this unfounded fear is self-starvation and major weight loss. In addition, the undernourishment may cause hormonal disturbances, anemia, heart problems, brittle bones and many other problems, some of which are life-threatening ("Anorexia Nervosa," 1). Bulimia is an eating disorder that is psychological in origin and can have dire physical consequences. While anorexics starve themselves, bulimics binge on food and then purge by self-induced vomiting. Bulimics also frequently use diet pills, laxatives, and diuretics to reduce their weight.
The media negatively influences the way women are portrayed in modern society and culture. This can severely impact the way a woman views her self worth and beauty.
An eating disorder is characterized when eating, exercise and body image become an obsession that preoccupies someone’s life. There are a variety of eating disorders that can affect a person and are associated with different characteristics and causes. Most cases can be linked to low self esteem and an attempt to, “deal with underlying psychological issues through an unhealthy relationship with food” (“Eating Disorders and Adolescence,” 2013). Eating disorders typically develop during adolescence or early adulthood, with females being most vulner...
Eating disorders are much more dangerous than they may appear. Anorexia has the highest mortality rate of any psychiatric illness and is the third most common chronic illness among teenagers. Anorexics have a form of body dysmorphic disorder; they look at themselves and see themselves as being overweight. The affected often grossly restrict the amount of food they eat and usually over-exercise. “The warning signs of anorexia nervosa are being underweight, refusing to eat, over-exercising, unhealthy skin, hair and nails.” Also there have been studies that have shown ones with anorexia nervosa are likely to later develop bulimia nervosa. Bulimia is usually much more difficult to detect that anorexia. Bulimia nervosa is bingeing, consuming large amounts of food, and purging, vomiting back up. Bulimics often feel out of control and will use bingeing and purging to control something in their lives. “The warning signs for bulimia are weight fluctuations, over-exercising, sneaking food and unhealthy skin, hair, and nails” (“Self Image and Media Influence”).
Bulimia nervosa is a slightly less serious version of anorexia, but can lead to some of the same horrible results. Bulimia involves an intense concern about weight (which is generally inaccurate) combined with frequent cycles of binge eating followed by purging, through self-induced vomiting, unwarranted use of laxatives, or excessive exercising. Most bulimics are of normal body weight, but they are preoccupied with their weight, feel extreme shame about their abnormal behavior, and often experience significant depression. The occurrence of bulimia has increased in many Western countries over the past few decades. Numbers are difficult to establish due to the shame of reporting incidences to health care providers (Bee and Boyd, 2001).
Even more of these girls develop an eating disorder in order to look like the women in the magazines. Eating disorders like anorexia and bulimia affect all girls, some as young as 5 or 6 years old. Anorexia is the third most common chronic illness among adolescents; over 1 million boys suffer from this illness as well.... ... middle of paper ...
Bulimia is marked by significant cycles in eating habits. Bulimics will often starve themselves (calorie/food/fat intake restriction -- sometimes with the help of diet pills or supplements) for extended periods of time prior to a massive binge, during which they consume abnormal amounts of food in a short period of time. These binges are followed by purging, which generally is constituted by self-induced vomiting. Other methods of purging the body include the use of diuretics, laxatives, and excessive exercising. Bulimics are generally within what is considered to be a "normal" weight range, but see themselves as being overly fat, or suffer from an intense fear of gaining weight. They often do realize that they have a problem, but by that point the cycle has become an obsession. Bulimics usually weigh themselves frequently, even several times daily.
Graydon, Shari. “How the Media Keeps us Hung Up on Body Image.” Herizons Summer. 2008: