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Personal essay on eating disorders among adolescents
Personal essay on eating disorders among adolescents
Causes of eating disorders in teens
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Today, as many as 10 out of 100 young teens struggle with an eating disorder. Each year, many teens develop eating disorders, or problems related to their weight, body image, and food. Anorexia is a serious eating disorder associated with an intense fear of weight gain and food. People who suffer from anorexia limit the amount of food they eat and have a distorted view of their body size and shape and may become dangerously thin. That is because the disorder affects not only their body but also their mind. Although the cause of anorexia is not fully understood, there is evidence that physical, biological, and social triggers are part of problems in anorexia. All of these causes revolve around the society we are living in today.
Genetics, biochemistry and biological factors have a significant contribution to anorexia. Although scientists are still researching possible biological causes of anorexia. Some individuals who have suffered from this eating disorder have unbalanced chemicals in the brain which control hunger, digestion and appetite. People with anorexia also have abnormal le...
Many causes are attributed to anorexia, and scientists have studied the personalities, genetics, environments, and biochemistry of people suffering from this disorder. Women most often share various traits--although the more that is learned, the more complex each individual case becomes--low self-esteem, feelings of helplessness, and a fear ...
Over the years the rise in body image dissatisfaction has grown as both male and female progress to adulthood. This factor can be contributed to societal standards that the media presents to the public daily. These standards continue to rise making the body image more difficult to attain. With these standards comes the push to seek the “perfect body”. This myth of true beauty commonly found in today’s society, is the price that adolescents buy into often sacrificing their health. The perfect body can often present a distorted view of one-self leading to unhealthy methods of weight reduction. The most common methods for weight reduction are the diseases Anorexia and Bulimia. The similarities and differences between Anorexia and Bulimia will be used to prove that the society’s pressure to fit a certain mold contribute to the onset of the disease.
Anorexia is a psychiatric disorder that is most common in young women. Those who suffer with anorexia have a fear of gaining weight and have an inaccurate portrayal of their own bodies. They see themselves as being fat, even though they are already thin to begin with. They are willing to go to extreme measures to lose weight, but the only outcome is a severely unhealthy body weight. To achieve the weight they want they will either starve themselves or do a tremendous amount of exercise.
There is argument about whether or not Anorexia can be incited by environmental factors and whether the occurrence of Anorexia is increasing at all. The article “Not Our Stars But Ourselves” stated, “Some of these causes may overlap with one another, but biomedical researchers are virtually unanimous that Anorexia has physical roots” (Schwarz). The article also question whether growing a...
Becoming healthy should lead to happiness; however an unhealthy lifestyle and attitude can lead to depression. Anorexia Nervosa is a life-threatening disorder that not only affects the body, but it affects the mind. It is a mental disorder that creates an unhealthy obsession with someone’s weight and body image, leading to people who look nothing more than skin and bones. Television, magazines and the internet seem to criticize people’s looks and body types, however could they be representing a small population? There are a large amount of people who have fallen into obesity – perhaps the media are simply promoting a healthier diet and lifestyle. Without this push to become healthy, the amount of people becoming obese will increase drastically.
Anorexia has many negative effects as well. According to the University of Maryland Medical Centers article Eating Disorders, “Anorexia nervosa can increase the risk for serious health problems such as: hormonal changes including reproductive, thyroid, stress, and growth hormones, heart problems such as abnormal heart rhythm, electrolyte imbalance, fertility problems, bone density loss, anemia, and neurological problems.” Anorexia can severely affect a person internally. The continuous lack of nutrients can leave an anorexic person extremely frail. The heart in particular can grow so weak, that heart failure occurs. Eating disorders can lead too permanent health damages can stay with a person for the rest of their life.
Binge-eating disorder is defined as an eating disorder in which a person frequently consumes large amounts of food while feeling out of control and unable to stop. Almost everyone overeats every once in a while but for some people overeating crosses the line to binge-eating disorder and it becomes a regular occurrence. Many people who have this disorder may feel embarrassed about eating large amounts of food in front of others however the urge and compulsiveness of this disorder continues to affect their eating habits. Binge-eating disorder is estimated to affect approximately 1-5% of the general population and also tends to affect women slightly more often than men. Binge-eating disorder is often associated with symptoms of depression and people diagnosed with this may often express distress, shame, and guilt over their eating behaviors.
Anorexia is an eating disorder in which the individual has lost more weight than what is considered healthy for their height and age. Their weight loss and food intake or what they lack in consumption is deliberate. They are extremely afraid of gaining weight and have specific methods for losing weight. These individuals workout excessively and usually go for the method of starvation, with a few purging tendencies. There are many negative drawbacks to being anorexic because the average anorexic loses 30 percent of their average body weight.
There is substantial evidence that supports the efficacy of individual and group CBT in treating binge eating disorder (“Part A,” 2006). The CBT approach for binge eating disorder is active and directive. At the cognitive level individuals in CBT are taught to identify, test, and correct their faulty cognitions. Behavioral strategies in CBT for binge eating include monitoring binge patterns, educating the individual, and introducing incompatible activities (Parrott, 1998). One study assessed the long-term efficacy of CBT in the treatment of binge eating disorder. They assessed a sample of 68 patients with binge eating disorder and a substantial reduction of binge eating was observed during treatment. There was a decline at the three-year follow-up and at the four, five, and six-year follow up there was a slight worsening of binge eating was observed in the individuals (Ricca, Mannucci, Zucchi, Rotella, & Faravelli, 2000). Other psychosocial therapies that show efficacy in the treatment for binge eating disorder are interpersonal therapy (IPT) and dialectical behavior therapy. There is evidence that both of these therapies are effective in the improvement of behavioral and psychological symptom (“Part A,” 2006).
Many scientific have concluded that neurotransmitter have an important role in the production of hormones. Some researchers have found that patient with anorexia nervosa also have abnormal levels of certain neurotransmitter. Lower levels of the neurotransmitter serotonin are connected to bulimia, depression and food disorders; lower levels of nor epinephrine was found on anorexic patients. It is possible that abnormal levels of the nor epinephrine neurotransmitter could cause weight loss on anorexic patients. These are some examples that support the scientific researches. (Encyclopedia of Obesity and Eating disorders,
There may be murmurs about that girl who only fixes herself a salad with only vinegar at dining services or suspicious glances at someone who spends 45 minutes on the treadmill and then switches to the stair stepper at the rec. On-campus eating disorders are talked about everywhere and yet are not really talked about at all. There is observation, concern, and gossip, but hushed conversation and larger scale efforts to help and change never seem to earn public attention.
According to Laura Shapiro, a notable researcher on eating disorders, the medical condition of anorexia consists of several elements. By definition, anorexia nervosa is a condition characterized by intense fear of gaining weight or becoming obese, as well as a distorted body image, and a feeling of loss of control (Shapiro 69).
Many believe that anorexia is a mental illness that occurs when certain genetic brain cells don’t work properly. However, anorexia is an eating disorder that has trapped young teens
Anorexia is a type of eating disorder who has an intense fear of gaining weight. They severely limit the amount of food they eat and can become dangerously thin (1). Anorexia affects both the mind and body and can even become deadly. Anorexia usually starts in the teen years and can go into adult hood. Untreated anorexia can lead to starvation and serious health problems, such as osteoporosis, kidney damage, and heart problems. Some people die from these problems (1). The cause of anorexia is not fully understood. It is thought to be from a mix of physical, emotional,, and social triggers (2). Extreme dieting changes how the brain and metabolism work, and it stresses the body. Genetics play a big part in anorexia. A combination of certain personality traits such as low self-confidence along with perfectionism and cultural and social pressures can play a big part in anorexia. For some teens, anorexia can be a way of coping with stressful events, such as moving, divorce, or the death of a love one (2).
Classified as a serious mental illness, anorexia strikes many people about the age sixteen to twenty years old. That is about eighty six percent of people between the age 16-20 years old who have a problem or has dealt with anorexia (“Eating Disorder statistics”). Thirty million people each year, all different ages, become anorexic. According to Linda Gehlin the definition of anorexia is “ loss of appetite,” but she does not agree with that because anorexia is not a loss of appetite. Anorexia is about people not wanting to gain weight because they are too scared to, so they start to either: restrict what they eat, or they start purging (Gehlin). Restricting type, and purging type are two different ways to define, or show what kind