Description:
Anorexia nervosa is characterized by a distorted body image. The individual is severely underweight and thinks they are fat or has a fear of becoming fat (Comer, 2013).
There are two types of anorexia. The first type is restricting-type anorexia. The individual restricts food intake to a dangerous degree. The second type is binge-eating/purging type anorexia. The individual purposely regurgitates after eating uses laxatives and/or diuretics (Comer, 2013).
Females compose 90-95% of people suffering from anorexia nervosa (Comer, 2013).
The typical age that an individual acquires anorexia nervosa is between 14 and 18 years old. However, it is possible to occur at any age (Comer, 2013).
Patients diagnosed with anorexia
…show more content…
Other conditions that may appear include disruptions in electrolytes and in metabolism, dry skin, brittle nails, hair loss or development of lanugo (fine hair), and cold feet and hands (Comer, 2013).
Other serious conditions that can occur after prolonged periods may be heart failure or circulatory collapse (Comer, 2013).
There are many emotional aspects of the disorder such as fear, self-esteem, and anxiety (Comer, 2013).
Fear is the motivation for individuals to become anorexic. It can be fear of becoming fat, or of ‘giving in’ to appetite and eating. It could also be that the fear of losing control of body shape, size, or weight (Comer, 2013).
Self-esteem fluctuates with how weight and size is perceived, and is often negative (Comer, 2013).
Depression and anxiety may be a symptom while experiencing the disorder (Comer, 2013).
Behavioral incidents include patterns of obsessive-compulsive disorder with food and/or exercise (Comer, 2013).
Media is thought to be a risk factor for developing anorexia. The messages and images in the media expose women to ideas of the ‘ideal women’ being thin and attractive. Many women think that being thin is the only way to be considered attractive (Henderson & Spettigue, 2004).
Media impacts women in regards to how they feel about size, shape, or weight; eating
There are several bio-medical definitions of anorexia; The NHS refers to an anorexic as someone who tries to keep their weight as low as possible, by restricting diet, often over exercising and in some cases through the use of laxatives and diuretics (NHS, 2014). The DSM-V definition similarly suggests that anorexia is characterised by a refusal to maintain body weight at or above the minimally normal weight for age and height (DSM-V, 2014). Both definitions highlight an intense fear of gaining weight and a hugely distorted perception
Anorexia Nervosa (AN) is defined an eating disorder that is consists of abnormally low body weight. A person suffering from this disease typically has a body mass index (BMI) that is less than 85% of what is considered normal. Anorexics have a fear of being overweight and often
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
The average that someone develops anorexia is 19 years old (NIMH), but that does not mean a person can only be 19 in order to develop an eating disorder. The NIMH has reported cases of eating disorders reporting in ages as low as .1 percent of eight to eleven year olds and .2 percent of twelve to fifteen year olds. Eating disorders are becoming more common for students in high school and college, since they view it as a coping mechanism to handle their
The most well-known eating disorders include anorexia nervosa, bulimia, and binge eating disorder, but new diagnoses are emerging such as orthorexia nervosa. Anorexia is characterized by an overwhelming fear of gaining weight, an obsession with weight in general, and involves a
People with anorexia see themselves as overweight even though they are dangerously thin. The process of eating becomes an obsession to them. Anorexia is a psychiatric disorder, which usually co-exist with other disorder such as, anxiety, depression, and substance abuse. There are many biological and environmental factors that play a major role in developing anorexia. Genetics is one of the biological factors that may play a role. The tie between anorexia and one’s genes is still being heavily researched. Nutritional deficiencies and irregular hormone functions can as while. Some environmentally factors could be like a family or childhood traumas such as sexual abuse. Peer pressure among friends and co-workers to be thin and careers that promote being thin and weight loss such as, ballet and modeling can also play an important
As defined in the DSM IV, Anorexia Nervosa is predominately found in adolescent girls and young women. The disorder is defined as distorted body image and excessive dieting that leads to severe weight loss with an obsessive fear of becoming fat. Bulimia nervosa is defined by recurrent episodes of binge eating followed by inappropriate behav¬iors such as self-induced vomiting to avoid weight gain. Binge eating is defined as continuous episodes of consuming large quantities of food in a short period of time. Someone with binge eating disorder may eat too quickly even when they are not feeling hungry. Feelings of guilt, embarrassment or disgust may follow.
Anorexia has dangerous effects on the body and the mind. It has the highest rate of death of any mental illness. Between 5% and 20% of people who develop the disease eventually die from it (Lee, 2008). It may start as simple dieting, but can quickly roller coaster out of control such as not eating at all. The person’s main focus is food, dieting, and the fear of weight gain. Others see them as being very thin but they themselves see a distorted fat image when they look in the mirror.
The research question of this Psychology Extended Essay is “What is the Extent of the Media’s Influence Regarding Eating Disorders?” To further investigate this question, I researched what the media is and what it does, how people are affected by the media and many different studies and experiments. Through the use of several sources, mostly online and experiments, I was able to learn exactly what the media does to possibly be considered an influence on the development of eating disorders. I was able to find a multitude of experiments and studies deciding whether or not women are actually influenced by what the media has to say about body image. While typing this paper, I realized that, of course, the media was not the only
The media plays a tremendous part in our everyday lives. It affects how we eat, how we dress, and our self-esteem. Whether it’s a heavily photo shopped model in a magazine, or a fad diet that encourages unhealthy beauty standards. The stress that these standards place on men and women have been heavily correlated with increases in eating disorders. The perpetuation of being extremely thin in the media has a huge impact on young people and children especially, because they are still learning what is considered normal, and will attempt to copy the esthetics of what they see in magazines if they aren’t taught what is a healthy body to have. Mass media portrays men and women to impossible standards that could never be reached
The findings found in the article Influence of Mass Media on Body Image and Eating Disordered Attitudes and Behaviors in Females: A Review of Effects and Processes by Lopez Guimera was the following, the cross-sectional studies found "that greater use of the mass media specifically fashion magazines and television music video shows is significantly correlated...with higher levels of body dissatisfaction and with higher scores on eating disorder" (Lopez-Guimera, 2010, p. 392). It was also found in the longitudinal prospective studies that the "greater exposure to the messages conveyed by media, particularly those that transmit messages in relation to thin ideal and how to achieve it from magazines, television, and radio, the more likely females are to develop disordered eating behaviors and concerns about weight" (Lopez-Guimera, 2010, p. 401). In which the article The effect of the media on body satisfaction in adolescent girls by Helen Champion and Adrian Furnham found that adolescent girls were unsatisfied with their body image, in which they felt a societally, or self imposed or both to be thinner/become thinner (Champion, H., & Furnham, A.,
Body image is a major concern amongst the majority, primarily the youth of the female population, ranging from as young as five years old to tertiary students, ’74.4% of the normal-weight women stated that they thought about their weight or appearance ‘all the time’ or ‘frequently’’ (Brown University, unknown).
With eating disorders on the rise today, the media plays an important role in affecting self-esteem, leading a large amount of young adults to develop eating disorders. Many adolescents see the overbearing thin celebrities and try to reach media's level of thinness and ideal body weight. "Sixty-nine of the girls reported that magazine pictures influenced their idea of the perfect body shape" (Field). Not only is being thin associated with other positive characteristics such as, lovable, popular, beautiful, and sexy, but being overweight is connected with negative characteristics like fat, ugly, unpopular, and lazy. Therefore media is the distinct social pressure of operating to influence people to be thin and causing eating disorders.
Anorexia nervosa can come from having been sexually abused or having family that are too controlling over what they do. “Most often diagnosed in females (up to 90%), Anorexia is characterized by failure to maintain body weight of at least 85% of what is expected, fear of losing control over your weight or of becoming fat.” The person with the disorder often visualizes themselves in a mirror and seeing an overweight person staring back at them which is their reflection. Treatment for anorexia nervosa involve restoring their health, after that is done therapy is highly recommended. The therapy can help the person maintain a
“The attention-grabbing pictures of various high-flying supermodels and actors on different magazine covers and advertisements go a long way in influencing our choices” (Bagley). The media is highly affective to everyone, although they promote an improper image of living. Research proved says those with low self-esteem are most influenced by media. Media is not the only culprit behind eating disorders. However, that does not mean that they have no part in eating disorders. Media is omnipresent and challenging it can halt the constant pressure on people to be perfect (Bagley). Socio-cultural influences, like the false images of thin women have been researched to distort eating and cause un-satisfaction of an individual’s body. However, it