Wasting Away: Anorexia And Bulimia Nervosa

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Recommended: Medias negative impact on body image

Everyone is Wasting Away: Anorexia and Bulimia Have No Prejudice Laura Wiesenthal Citrus College I did my research on eating disorders, specifically, Anorexia Nervosa (anorexia) and Bulimia Nervosa (bulimia). I chose anorexia and bulimia as my topic because eating disorders are common in today’s society and I often hear about girls suffering from it. I also have friends that have suffered from eating disorders and it makes me worry. I have even noticed that my little eight year old sister is concerned about her body. She asks me questions like “What do you think my butt looks like? Does it have the right shape?” Even at a young age girls have the impression of needing to look perfect. I think one of the biggest factors is how much pressure teenagers are under but especially how girls are getting the wrong impression from the media of what “perfect” is. Girls get this image of how they have to look from celebrities and also from magazines. Today almost every picture is photo shopped and it is impossible to look like girls that have been photo shopped to what society calls “perfect”. I have even seen a video on how an image of a girl on a magazine is made up of four different images of girls to make one “perfect” girl. I feel it is very sad how girls are judged on their bodies. I am hoping to learn about these eating disorders and understand better how to help my family and friends and also how to prevent them. Diagnostic Criteria per DSM V According to the DSM V, one of the major symptoms of anorexia is low energy intake, which leads to significantly low body weight. Individuals that suffer from this eating disorder have an extreme fear of constantly gaining weight and are unhappy with their bodies and the wa... ... middle of paper ... ...d with anorexia has increased a lot during the last 30 years which is very heavily influenced with the body image that is presented by the media. Bulimia nervosa was first used in 1979 by Russell to describe one of his patients. Later in 1988 Cooper and Fairburn described bulimia as “a profound and distressing loss of control over eating,” and “irresistible cravings for food”. Today these eating disorders are classified by the DSM V, which I mentioned earlier. Conclusion Through this research I have learned how serious eating disorders are and that it is very important to identify the problem and then to get help because it is possible to cure them. I enjoyed the process of learning about eating disorders in detail and do not wish to have chosen another topic. I understand eating disorders better now and maybe I can help my friends through their recovery better.

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