Dying To Be Thin Analysis

Eating Disorders are, “eating behaviors that develop to deal with problems,” such as, “self-esteem, emotional regulation, fear of growing up and relationship problems” according to Mehler and Andersen (2017) in their book Eating disorders: A guide to medical care and complications.

To briefly summarize, “Dying to Be Thin” was a documentary sharing the stories of young females suffering with eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. Anorexia nervosa is an emotional disorder where an individual starves themselves in order to lose weight. Bulimia nervosa is another eating disorder where the individual binges enormous amounts of food at a time and then forces vomiting. In both cases, the diseases are very harmful to the human body and can ultimately lead to death if untreated.

After watching the documentary Dying to Be Thin, it opened my eyes to the underlying issues that play a significant role in the start of eating disorders. Each of the women who I got to know in the documentary had their own story of how this disorder developed. The statistic that resonated with me the most was that 8 million individuals, mostly women ages 15-24, suffer from an eating disorder. This documentary was done in 2000, so I am curious to know if that number decreased or increased with the development of mental health throughout the years. Eating disorders are a deadly illness and have the highest death rate of any psychiatric illness.

Eating disorder is the abnormal eating behavior that would negatively impact one’s health, emotions and ability to function in important areas of life. Eating disorders include several categories: binge eating disorder, which means people eat large amount in a short period, anorexia nervosa which people eat very little, bulimia nervosa which people eat a lot and then try to rid themselves of food, pica which people eat non-food items, rumination disorder means people regurgitate food, avoidant food intake means that people have a lack of interest in food, and other specified eating disorders (ANAD). There is believed to be no single cause for eating disorders, as all the biological, psychological, and sociocultural factors contribute to this illness. Studies have shown that specific chromosomes may be associated with bulimia and anorexia (NY times). Eating disorders may also be caused by imbalance of serotonin and dopamine which explain why people who have anorexia

Eating disorders can be viewed as multi-determined disorder. Multi-determined disorders can conclude of various factors to the cause of one’s eating disorder. Each factor produces stressors to which “initiates dieting, weight loss, and the pursuit of thinness” (Diaz, 2017). A multi-determined disorder would be anorexia nervosa. These multi-determined factors leading to eating disorders may include socio-cultural, competitive environments, interpersonal, family, etc. Those who have eating disorders are diagnosed with more than one causing factor. With such stressors occurring to the self, leads to the self concept of when one has little memory of positive schemas. He or she is then unable to cope with challenges, thus feeling unworthy to his

“Dying to be Thin,” produced by PBS, is a documentary that examines the troubles that persons who are affected by eating disorders go through and the constant, daily struggles they face with health and body image. The film tells the story of a number of young women who battled mainly anorexia and bulimia and mixes a variety of ages to give a “during” and an “after” perspective. Many of the women in the video were ballet or some similar type of dancer. Dancers, by their own account, are encouraged to be thin. The issue really came to the forefront after a young ballet dancer from Boston died of heart failure at the young age of 22, with an eating disorder deemed to be the cause. The narrator goes on to introduce more young women and detail the potential illnesses that their eating disorders can cause. Chronic low blood pressure, kidney and liver damage, severe early osteoporosis, and heart failure are all common things seem in patients who suffer from eating disorders. Most patients have dangerously low body weights, body fat percentages, and, often, young women will experience amenorrhea, which is the loss of menstruation. All of the people in the video wanted to be better and were seeking a road to recovery. The video showed though, how difficult that can be since the eating disorders can be so wide ranging and have a number of different root causes. Often patients develop eating disorders as something that they have control over, in a world that they feel is out of their

In the video Dying to be Thin there are many factors, biological (such as brain chemicals) and non-biological (such as modern media), which are mentioned as contributors to why and how people develop eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia. In any society there are views, such as the want and need to be thin, which are subtly forced onto the public through media; specifically in the modern society that humans currently live in, the media and advertising which are constantly shown to the public have a profound effect on viewers as the media creates unrealistic expectations of what our bodies are supposed to look like and therefore body dissatisfaction (Smolak & Levine, 1996). Most forms of media also sell idealistic transformation ideas by making the viewer’s believe that they can turn into their role model if they change their eating behaviour by eating less, dieting more, etc. (Ritsko, 2000).

The video Dying To Be Thin and both articles by Serpell all implicated that what society values as a perfect image has a direct impact on how people view themselves. Most people are not happy with some part of their outside appearance. Pop culture and reality shows display obsessions with perfection, plastic surgery, most times exploiting insecure people who are unhappy with their appearance. The perfect body is advertised on every media outlet and constantly seen in public. There are number of people looking for that “new” and “perfect body” repeatedly going to the doctors and other professionals as well as developing eating disorders enhancing their obsession about their appearance and how unhappy they are. Unfortunately, for some people this obsession goes beyond entertainment, for some people this unhappiness and obsession is not something that just

Eating disorders are illnesses, not character flaws. You also can't tell whether a person has an eating disorder just by looking at them. People with eating disorders can be underweight, normal weight or overweight. It's impossible to diagnose anyone just by looking at them. About 24 million suffer from an eating disorder.

Dying to be thin was a document that I could relate to, minus the dying part. It stirred emotions. I am overweight. To loose weight is easier said than done. Never in my life would I have thought that I would be battling the bulge. For most of my life, I was thin. I could eat as much as I wanted, and never gained weight. During and after my successful battle with breast cancer, I gained weight. It has been an all up heal battle to lose it. I hate shopping in larger size clothing. I have tried to recondition myself to eat healthy and less. I thought about starving myself. I have tried dieting and exercising, counting carbs as well as limiting fats. I am desperate to loose weight. I get depress often. I am my only true motivator. I’ve tried

There are many different biological approaches that explain the reasons for eating disorders they all have some validity behind them to a certain extent. An eating disorder is a psychological dysfunction that causes a person to change their eating habits to eating less, or more etc.

Eating disorders are serious because they are caused internally. Like the National Institute of Mental Health said, is usually women and not only do people tell them that they look overweight, but social media tells everyone what women are supposed to look like. These standards of beauty are unrealistic but many take them to heart and feel the need to either stop eating all together or eat then throw up what they do eat. Eating disorders are a much bigger issue, very understated. They are sort of like the elephant in the room, no one wants to talk about it but everyone knows it's

Why would a frightening percentage of American women gladly trade five years off their lives for 10 pounds off their bodies, or prefer to be perceived as thin rather than as kind or intelligent? This obsession with thinness needs to be understood if we are to avoid the consequences, which are often tragic. Beyond this, there are further steps that ought to be taken so that women can have a healthier and more positive sense of themselves.

Researchers have found that within people who experience eating disorders they have a higher than average amount of serotonin in their brains, which is also associated with obsessive behaviors. Serotonin is proven to affect the mood and appetite of people. Doctors believe serotonin gives people an almost carbohydrate avoiding behavior. Another interesting belief is that anorexia and bulimia are actually on a spectrum which is associated with families and runs within them. By this I mean that anyone can exhibit any type maybe over eating, anorexia or bulimia. Treatment is an only option as the disease gets more serious over time and is less likely to do much damage if treated within the first year. Especially if doctors are able to get the patient back to a healthy weight within that time frame. The sad thing about the disease is after the patient leaves there is a 50% chance of relapse, within that year after leaving treatment. If patients are not treated they face osteoporosis, loss of menstruation which leads to boneloss, and loss of reproductive

Eating disorders stem from a combination of psychological, biological, and social factors. Feelings of depression and anxiety along with daily stressors can contribute to