Eating Disorders and Its Impact on Society
Brett White
Tallahassee Community College
Psychology 1101
Michelle Peruche
November 06, 2015
Abstract
Eating disorders are very common in today’s society and can cause death if an intervention isn’t performed. While working in the hospital and being part of the wrestling team in high school I’ve witness several people with this disorder. Anorexia and bulimia are the most prevalent and generally are accompanied by another psychological disorder. Many individuals suffer from more than one disorder and almost half of people who have anorexia develop bulimia or bulimic patterns. Although there is no specific cause we do know that women are more likely to suffer from anorexia or bulimia. The key to fighting anorexia and bulimia is to identify who is at risk, identify the symptoms, identify the warning signs, and seek treatment.
Eating Disorders and Its Impact on Society
An eating disorder is an illness some people suffer from due to an obsession with food, body image, or weight. These people struggle to have control over their bodies even if it means making decision that affects their overall health. Having a severe disturbance in eating habits and related thoughts and emotions can lead to death. Eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of any mental illness according to Eating Disorder Statistics. Anorexia nervosa and bulimia are two of the most common types of eating disorders in the United
Eating Disorders we think about are, Anorexia Nervosa, and Bulimia Nervosa. Binge Eating Disorder is lesser known however all three can affect males and females (Gray & Zide, 2013). A definition of an eating disorder is an illness that is characterized by irregular eating habits and an obsession with body weight and shape. This leads the person to develop habits surrounding inadequate or excessive food intake. Eating disorders may develop at any age, but typically develops during teen and early adult years. Eating disorders frequently coexist with other disorders such as, anxiety disorders, substance abuse and depression.
An eating disorder is described as an illness characterized by irregular eating habits and severe distress or concern about body weight or shape. The most common forms of eating disorders include Anorexia, Bulimia, and Binge Eating Disorder (About An Eating Disorder: Symptoms, Signs, Causes, & Articles For Treatment Help, 2017, p. 5).
Anorexia is an eating disorder that struggles with the fear of gaining weight and refuses to be healthy. Another eating disorder is Bulimia, which is when you overeat followed by forced vomiting and excessive exercise. Binge Eating is one of the most common eating disorders along with Anorexia and Bulimia, Binge eating is when you lose control over one’s eating. All of these common eating disorders all suffer from guilt or depression. “Individuals with bulimia and binge eating eat large amounts of food to reduce stress” (CEDC). They also could have risky behaviors, such as dealing with drugs or alcohol or even death. People with Anorexia or Bulimia are very concerned with being overweight or in other words fat.
At present, these eating disorders have an effect on roughly 25 million Americans, of which almost 25% are of the male gender. Out of all the psychological disorders, anorexia has the highest mortality rate. The whys and wherefores include malnourishment, substance abuse and reckless suicides. Eating disorders can happen to anyone; no matter whether they’re male or female, rich or poor, old or young. According to many researchers, eating disorders are caused by more than just food. There are numerous
Eating disorders are characterised by an abnormal attitude towards food that causes an individual to change their eating habits and their behaviour. There are several types of eating disorders that can effect an individual physically, psychologically and socially. The two eating disorders which I will be discussing is anorexia and bulimia.
Eating disorders are sweeping this country and are rampant on junior high, high school, and college campuses. These disorders are often referred to as the Deadly Diet, but are often known by their more popular names: anorexia or bulimia. They affect more than 20% of females between the age of thirteen and forty. It is very rare for a young female not to know of someone with an eating disorder. Statistics show that at least one in five young women have a serious problem with eating and weight (Bruch, 25).
Eating Disorders are defined as deviations of eating behavior that can lead to extreme weight loss (cachexia) or obesity, among other physical problems and disabilities. The main types of eating disorders are Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia Nervosa. These two diseases are closely related because they represented some symptoms in common: a prevalent idea involving
What exactly is an eating disorder? There are multiple different types of eating disorders: anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, eating-disorder-not-otherwise-specified, and binge eating disorder. These are just some of the more common eating disorders people can suffer from. Anorexia nervosa according to National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA), is “characterized by self-starvation and excessive weight loss.” In other words a person who suffers from anorexia nervosa refuses to eat in hopes to lose weight at an excessive pace. Bulimia nervosa is “characterized by a
Eating Disorders affect over ninety percent of our population today. Yearly, they affect around nine million adults alone. Since it has such a widespread grasp it makes eating disorders the most silent killer of all psychological diseases. The psychological distortion behind it though is considered to be one of the most shrouded in mystery compared to other diseases rooted in mental instability.
Eating disorders may not seem like it’s that big of a deal. In America, we hear about a lot about people who contract illnesses such as cancer, but eating disorders isn’t talked about much. Over thirty million people suffer from these mental illnesses, such as anorexia or bulimia. Even though these disorders have the highest life span of any mental illness, they can lead to death due to organ failure, heart failure, starvation, or even go as far as committing suicide. Things such as peer pressure, sports, body image, and low-self esteem can drive teenagers towards eating disorders.
An eating disorder is an obsessive collection of interrelated behaviors directed towards persistent eating behaviors that negatively impact one’s health, emotions, and ability to function in important areas of life. These compulsive practices and attitudes about food, weight and body shape, manifest into deep psychological fears and an incessant need for control. Some common features of eating disorders include an irrational fear of fat, dissatisfaction with one 's body often coupled with a distorted perception of body shape, unhealthy weight management and extreme food intake. This disordered eating behavior is usually an effort to solve a variety of emotional difficulties about which the individual feels out of control. Males and females of all social and economic classes, races and intelligence levels can develop an eating disorder (Perfect). There are currently three main types of eating disorder, anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge eating disorder. Each one as dangerous as the next, but yet heavily overlooked and/or misunderstood in society today (Perfect); A review of nearly fifty years of research confirms that anorexia nervosa has the highest mortality rate of any psychiatric disorder (Arcelus, Mitchell, Wales, & Nielsen, 2011).
An eating disorder is an illness that involves an unhealthy feeling about the food we eat. “Eating disorders affect 5-10 millions Americans and 70 million individuals worldwide” (www.eatingdisorderinfo.org 1). They also affect many people from women, men, children, from all ages and different races. People who have eating disorders usually see themselves as being fat when they really aren’t. This usually deals with women or teenage girls mostly. They watch television, movies, read articles in magazines, and see pictures of the celebrities whom they want to be like because they have the “ideal body” that everyone wants and craves for. The media makes us all think we need those types of bodies to be happy with ourselves, be more successful
Eating disorders is a mental disorder of eating habits that affect a person’s mental and physical health. There are different kinds of disorders, such as, binge eating is when you eat large amounts of food. Anorexia Nervosa is lost if appetite, while Bulimia you eat all the time. Pica is when you are hungry for stuff that is largely non-nutritive. Rumination disorder which usually happens as a child, but brings up food and re-chews the digested food that has already been eaten. Finally the Avoidant/Restrictive food intake disorder is the struggling of eating food.
“Bleh, bleh,” that was all you heard in the silent bathroom. I stood up feeling a little bit dizzy and better. I walked to my mirror, I scan my body from head to toe stopping on my stomach all I thought is how fat and ugly I look. Maybe if I stopped eating everything will be better. Everyday girls worldwide think this, our society makes people think that just by being skinny you are pretty and by being fat you are ugly but no because size or appearance does not define nothing everyone is beautiful in their own ways. Eating Disorders affect people by their emotional life, social life, and mentality. Emotions make people feel some type of neglected way when they have this eating disorders.
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