Causes of Eating Disorders

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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).

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