Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia Nervosa Essay

Many young women suffer from eating disorders. Criticized and shamed by the many for their body, weight, and looks, insecurities are abundant in these women. Especially female celebrities, whom are constantly held to unreachable standards by the public. These insecurities can lead to a plethora of psychological problems or disorders, including eating disorders. An eating disorder is defined as “an illness that causes serious disturbances to your everyday diet, such as eating extremely small amounts of food or severely overeating” by the National Institution of Mental Health. In the past few years, many celebrities have come out as suffering from an eating disorder, one of the more recent to be the pop star Kesha.

The media group that retouches images skews the “normal” body image of people through many of its outlets, including models in advertising and magazines, and actors in TV and movie productions. “The average model portrayed in the media is approximately 5’11” and 120 pounds. By contrast, the average American woman is 5’4” and 140 pounds” (Holmstrom, 2004). This statistic shows how the media manipulates consumers into believing that because they are not what the average model looks like, they are not living up to a certain standard which implies that they need to look like that to be beautiful. Another research fact that shows a similar concept is that, “In the United States, 94% of female characters in television programs are thinner than the average American woman, with whom the media frequently associate happiness, desirability, and success in life” (Yamamiya et al., 2005). This association of female thinness and happiness, desirability and success makes consumers believe they must achieve this unrealistic thinness to achieve more ultimate goals and fulfillment in life. “The media also explicitly instruct how to attain thin bodies by dieting, exercising, and body-contouring surgery, encouraging female consumers to believe that they can and should be thin” (Yamamiya et al., 2005). This idealization of thinness in the media is seen so much, and is extremely harmful to women’s self confidence and is often associated with body image dissatisfaction, which can be a precursor to social anxiety, depression, eating disturbances, and poor self-esteem (Yamamiya et al.,

Therefore, the commendation of such look and shape commercializes unhealthy body image and procreates eating disorders. Unfortunately, at present the commercialism of a perfect body is encountered by almost everyone on everyday basis. The public is bombarded daily with images of glamorously thin women in commercials, on billboards, in movies in magazines and etc?According to Melanie Katzman, a consultant psychologist from New York, the media has actively defined the thin ideal as success and treats the body as a commodity. (Rhona MacDonald, 2001) It is evident that the persistent advocating of the media and the society produced a constant pursuit of thinness, which became a new religion. A study conducted by Harvard researchers has revealed the effect of media and magazines on adolescent girls in high schools. The children were exposed to fashion magazines and television commercials, and a while after were given self-rating surveys. The study found that sixty-nine percent of the girls said that magazine pictures

In our Western society, we have several different types of eating dysfunction, all of which are unique and tragic in their own right. Despite their individuality, however, they all have several overlapping symptoms that are key to their classification and severity. For Bulimia Nervosa (BN) and Binge Eating Disorder (BED), one of the core features is binge eating, which can be defined objectively by number of calories eaten in a given time or subjectively by the feelings of the binger. Binge eating has many different aspects that are of interest to scientists and clinicians alike. One of those interests has to do with the reduction of this symptom among populations being treated for their respective disorder. Because both

Bulimia nervosa is an eating disorder that is most commonly found in women of teenage or young adult age (Herzog, D. B. (1982). This disorder can have very serious effects on the body. Some of these physical effects include “dental problems, inflamed esophagus, EEG abnormalities, abdominal or urinary disturbances, and changes in blood sugar level.” (Muuss, R. E. (1986). ) The mental and emotional tolls of this disorder can be equally as dangerous. According to Pompili, M., Girardi, P., Ruberto, A., & Tatarelli, R. (2006) individuals with bulimia nervosa are at a higher risk for committing suicide. To be diagnosed with Bulimia Nervosa, according to the DSM 5, a person must experience episodes of binge eating along with harmful behaviors meant to compensate for the binging. These behaviors often include vomiting, exercising excessively, depriving oneself of food, or using medications inappropriately to achieve weight loss. dsm.psychiatryonline.org.ezproxy1.lib.asu.edu/doi/book/10.1176/appi.books.9780890425596 (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). According to Lundgren, J. D., Danoff-Burg, S., & Anderson, D. A. (2004) a lot of research has been done on the efficacy of cognitive-behavioral therapy in treating bulimia nervosa and it is widely believed to be the best treatment for the disorder. Cognitive-behavioral therapy is essentially the combination of cognitive therapy, designed to change unhealthy thoughts and schema, and behavioral therapy, designed to change

“To be happy and successful, you must be thin,” is a message women are given at a very young age (Society and Eating Disorders). In fact, eating disorders are still continuously growing because of the value society places on being thin. There are many influences in society that pressures females to strive for the “ideal” figure. According to Sheldon’s research on, “Pressure to be Perfect: Influences on College Students’ Body Esteem,” the ideal figure of an average female portrayed in the media is 5’11” and 120 pounds. In reality, the average American woman weighs 140 pounds at 5’4”. The societal pressures come from television shows, diet commercials, social media, peers, magazines and models. However, most females do not take into account of the beauty photo-shop and airbrushing. This ongoing issue is to always be a concern because of the increase in eating disorders.

Bulimia nervosa is a disease that predominately affects young females. Since the origination of its medical definition various studies have been implemented to examine the cause of onset and effects of bulimia nervosa. There have also been studies surveying the long-term outcome of bulimia nervosa. These long-term studies have analyzed such relationships as age, employment status, social status and marital status and bulimia nervosa. By using three scientific studies of long-term outcome of bulimia nervosa, this paper will try and evaluate the research obtained and offer critical suggestions to help further studies on this topic.

Body image has become a huge issue in society today, with magazines such as Shape, Covergirl, Vogue, Seventeen, or celebrities such as Carrie Underwood, Jennifer Aniston, Angelina Jolie, or Kylie Jenner. Women, especially teenagers, find themselves thinking that they have to look like the model they saw in a magazine, or on social media. The media is greatly responsible for the growing of the “ideal” thin women. Statistics show that diet and weight control advertisement appear ten times more in women’s magazines than men. Showing thin models next to them which leads girls to eating disorders, harming their bodies so they have an “ideal” image of what they think they should look like.

Bulimia Nervosa- An eating disorder where the sufferer consumes an abnormally large quantity of food, or a “binge”, and rids themselves of the calories through methods of purging such as, but not limited to: Self-Induced vomiting, laxative/diuretic abuse, fasting, and compulsive exercising. In 2011, my freshman year of High School, I fell victim to the mental illness mentioned above. Though I wouldn't wish such an experience on my worst enemy, the recovery process taught me a lot about myself and who I am in the eyes of God. Without persevering through such a traumatic experience I wouldn’t be the young women I am today. As hard as it was, my recovery story is central to my identity.

Bulimia Nervosa is another eating disorder discussed in the DSM-5 (2013), that is most prevalent in later adolescence and young adulthood in females (p. 437). In order for one to be diagnosed, one must meet four criterion. Criteria A is recurrent episodes of binge eating characterized by the following; eating in a discrete period of time (2 hours), and amount of food that is larger than most individuals would eat in a similar period and the second a sense of lack of control over eating during the episode (DSM-v, 2013, p. 346). Women who are bulimic tend to eat a vast amount of food in a short period of time just to purge as a result. This intensity it of consuming, must happen in a moderate amount of time in order to be considered bulimic. Better understood by Abraham (2008) she states,” an episode of binge eating occurs when the woman’s resistance to eating fails and she has an irresistible desire to eat” (p. 280). This type of behavior represents a sense of lack of control. Women who binge have a hard time stopping and controlling what and how much they are consuming.

Anorexia is rooted in both nature and nurture. The nature and nurture are sometimes based on the bad genes of the father and the mother. The bad genes produce faulty neurotransmitters and circuits.(“Case”)

Eating disorders are extremely harmful and rising in prevalence. . The two most common eating disorders are Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia Nervosa. In this essay, I will compare and contrast these two disorders. This essay will also assess the symptoms, causes, health affects and the most prevalent characteristics of people diagnosed with these two eating disorders.

     When I think of anorexia, a few things come to mind. I think of really bad episodes of Beverly Hills 90210 and Baywatch in which females, ususally teenagers, starve themselves and take diet pills. The eating problem is always resolved within the timespan of one 30 minute episode. From the research I've done thus far on anorexia, I now know that this is a very unrealistic representation of what is actually a very serious disease.

Each year millions of people in the United States are affected by serious and sometimes life-threatening eating disorders. The vast majorities are adolescents and young adult women. Approximately one percent of adolescent girls develops anorexia nervosa, a dangerous condition in which they can literally starve themselves to death. Another two to three percent develop bulimia nervosa, a destructive pattern of excessive overeating followed by vomiting or other " purging " behaviors to control their weight. These eating disorders also occur in men and older women, but much less frequently. The consequences of eating disorders can be severe. For example, one in ten anorexia nervosa leads to death from starvation, cardiac arrest, or

In a society that discriminates against people, particularly women, who do not look slender, many people find they cannot - or think they cannot - meet society's standards through normal, healthy eating habits and often fall victim to eating disorders. Bulimia Nervosa, an example of an eating disorder that is characterized by a cycle of binge eating and purging, has become very common in our society. Although it generally affects women, men too are now coming to clinics with this kind of disease. This is not a new disorder. It can be brought on by a complex interplay of factors, which may include emotional, and personality disorders, family pressures, a possible genetic or biologic susceptibility, and a culture in which there is an