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Causes of eating disorders essay
Link between child abuse and mental health issues
Introduction on eating disorder
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Many studies show various contributing factors that may lead a person into the development of an eating disorder. An individual may become a victim of an eating disorder due to problems in their social or personal lives. The causes of eating disorders are not factors of just one specific situation, but can root from many areas of ones life. Studies have narrowed down what seems to be the most popular causes for a person to develop these eating disorders. Severe disorders in individuals’ eating habits can stem from many factors including but not limited to childhood and adulthood emotional, physical and sexual abuse, poor body image, substance abuse, and their living environment. A wide variety of studies have been completed to see the affects that childhood emotional abuse has on ones eating habits. There are people that are emotionally abused but are able to come out seemingly unharmed or affected, as well as, those that continue to deal with lifelong damage. During a study of 176 bulimic individuals 41.6% of them reported to have suffered severe emotional abuse as a child (Groleau, Steiger, Bruce, Israel, Sycz, Ouellette & Badawi, 2011). Although many of the patients included in the study suffered from different types of abuse leading to their eating disorder, the study also showed that those that suffered childhood emotional abuse tended to have more severe eating habits than the others (Groleau, Steiger, Bruce, Israel, Sycz, Ouellette & Badawi, 2011). The study relays that when a child suffers from emotional damage, it can lead into an altered view of oneself into adulthood. The study reports that, “childhood emotional abuse may influence severity of eating symptoms, perhaps by impacting individuals’ self-esteem and ... ... middle of paper ... ...orer, D., Keel, P., Jackson, S., & Manzo, M. (2006). Drug abuse with women with eating disorders. In International Journal of Eating Disorders (5th ed., Vol. 39, pp. 364-368). Leonard, S., Steiger, H., & Kao, A. (2003). Childhood and adulthood abuse in bulimic and nonbulimic women: Prevalences and psychological correlates. In A. Kao (Ed.), International Journal of Eating Disorders (4th ed., Vol. 33, pp. 397-405). Schmidt, U., Humfress, H., & Treasure, J. (1997). The role of general family environment and sexual and physical abuse in the origins of eating disorders. In European Eating Disorders Review (3rd ed., Vol. 5, pp. 184-207). Villarroel, A., Penelo, E., Portell, M., & Raich, R. (2012). Childhood sexual and physical abuse in spanish female undergraduates: Does it affect eating disturbances?. In European Eating Disorders Review (1st ed., Vol. 20, pp. e32-e41).
The National Institute of Mental Health: Eating Disorders: Facts About Eating Disorders and the Search for Solutions. Pub No. 01-4901. Accessed Feb. 2002.
One possible factor is biology. A person might inherit a gene from their parents that predisposes them to a susceptibility to eating disorders. While that may not be enough on its own, it certainly starts that person off on the wrong foot and if combined with other factors it can lead to an eating disorder. For example, an individual could inherit a slow metabolism causing them to put on weight faster than others, which in turn could cause them to develop an eating disorder to counteract the weight gain.
Eating disorders are not caused by a single source, such as control, but are due to an accumulation of factors including genetics, upbringing, culture, and personality.
Rastam, Maria. (1992). Background factors in anorexia nervosa. European Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. 1, 54-64.
Shapiro, C. M. (2012). Eating disorders: Causes, diagnosis, and treatments [Ebrary version]. Retrieved from http://libproxy.utdallas.edu/login?url=http://site.ebrary.com/lib/utdallas/Doc?id=10683384&ppg=3
Bauer, Barbara G. Ph.D., Wayne Anderson, Ph.D., and Robert W. Hyatt, M.D. Bulimia, Book for Therapist and Client. Indianapolis: Accelerated Development Inc., 1986.
Staff, Mayo Clinic. "Eating Disorders: Causes." Mayo Clinic. Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research, 08 Feb. 2012. Web. .
Pope HG, Mangweith B, Negrao AB, Hudson JI, & Cordas TA (1994). Childhood sexual abuse and bulimia nervosa: A comparison of American, Austrian, and Brazilian women. American Journal of Psychiatry, 151, 732-737.
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The relationship between eating disorders and alcoholism has become a widely researched topic only in the last fifteen years. Since 1985, there have been an increasing number of research and case studies substantiating a correlation between these two behavioral and addictive disorders. Alcoholism affects nearly 14 million United States citizens (http://silk.nih.gov/silk/niaaa1/publication/booklet.htm ). The four basic elements of this disease include a craving for, loss of control over, physical dependence on, and tolerance to alcohol (http://silk.nih.gov/silk/niaaa1/publication/booklet.htm). Unfortunately, there is no cure for alcoholism, although various forms of treatment have become available. Eating disorders also affect a vast number of people: approximately 1% of female adolescents have anorexia nervosa and 4% of college-aged women have bulimia nervosa (http://www.anred.com/stats.html ). Men experience eating disorders less than women and encompass only 5-10% of the populations of eating disorder patients (http://www.anred.com/stats.html ). There is no cure for eating disorders. However, varieties of medicinal and psychotherapy treatments have allowed for improvements in patients and critical debates. The following paper analyzes five research studies that examined the possible correlation between eating disorders and alcohol abuse. Each report provides a summary of the procedures, results, and discussions formulated by the researchers. Finally, a critique of the overall findings from each study will offer possible changes that might help concretize conclusions to the many unanswered questions concerning eating disorders and their tendency to result in alcohol abuse.
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...
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).
Anorexia nervosa and Bulimia nervosa are described as psychological eating disorders (Keel and Levitt, 1). They are both characterized by an over evaluation of weight. Despite being primarily eating disorders, the manifestations of bulimia and anorexia are different. They both present a very conspicuous example of dangerous psychological disorders, as according to the South Carolina Department of Health, “Eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of any mental illness” (Eating Order Statistics, 1). While Bulimia and anorexia both psychological disorders primarily prevalent in women, anorexia tend to have different diagnostic complexities, symptoms and physiological effects as compared to bulimia.
In modern culture, women and men are becoming less satisfied with their body shape. According to a report that was done by the Federal Trade Commission, seventy percent of Americans are either trying not to maintain their weight or are trying to lose weight (Kittleson 75). To compensate for being over weight, an individual will develop an eating disorder. According to Mark Kittleson, eating disorders are when an individual eats way too much or way too little (1). There are three different types of eating disorders, anorexia, bulimia, and binge eating. According to Jessica Bennett, twenty-five million people in the United States suffer from binge eating disorder and ten million women and one million men suffer from either anorexia or bulimia. Studies have proven that bulimia, anorexia, and binge eating are set off by social, psychological, relationship or genetic factors; social factors, however, have the greatest impact on men and women.
There are many reasons that can contribute to the cause of eating disorders. One of the main reasons seems to be the obsession over every little pound a person is wearing. Sometimes low self-esteem or depression from any number of causes can usher in the eating disorder. Other times compulsive exercising can help shed the pounds but leave the enthused unhealthy looking.