How Perfectionism Can Translate Into Eating Disorder Pathology Essay

In the essay “The Globalization of Eating Disorders” by Susan Bordo speaks about eating disorders. In society today appearance is a huge factor. Even though appearance has always been a major thing but now day’s people take it to the extreme when trying to have a certain body image. Now day’s people think beauty is whatever is on the outside, instead of the inside and the outside. Most people go on crazy strict diets, surgery and some go through starvation in order to become a certain body size. Eating disorders are becoming more in effect now and not just in the United States , but happens to be going worldwide and not only with just the women, but now with men as well. Within the essay Bordo’s explains about how the body image, media, and culture influence the standard of the beauty leads to eating disorder. Another factor is family that causes someone to form an eating disorder. Those four factors are the main key roles that play apart on how eating disorders are being used.

Anita’s tendency to create unreasonable goals in life and tendency to perfectionist behavior, led her to try to do all these tasks at the same time, plus volunteer work and expect maintaining a high performance in all of them, creating excessive worries and fear of failure. All these factors are known to be prevalent among individuals with eating disorders.

In longing to reach the norm many people fall victim to these detrimental illnesses. Sadly, women are more subject to these eating disorders than men, the number of men suffering from eating disorders is on the rise. Our culture puts pressure on each of its inhabitants to attain this ideal body type that is unrealistic for most people. The images that pollute television and magazines make us all feel inadequate if we don't meet the credentials of slenderness; therefore, continuing the role of our society in the development of eating disorders.

(2005) found with the questionnaire that body dissatisfaction was higher among non-athletes than with athletes. Schwarz, C., Gairrett, L., Aruguete, S., and Gold, S. (2005) research also suggested that athletes in judged sports, ex: diving or dancing, had a higher score in dieting than athletes in refereed sports. Finally, “we found a positive correlation between perfectionism and dieting, and perfectionism and bulimia.” (Schwarz, C., Gairrett, L., Aruguete, S., and Gold, S., 2005,

When did a healthy body stop being beautiful? Approximately thirty million Americans have suffered from an eating disorder, yet most people do not understand the solemnity of them. (11) Eating disorders bring forth many harmful effects and even some destructive long term effects that very few people put into consideration. Eating disorders are mentally, emotionally, and physically deteriorating. There are many different reasons that a person might develop an eating disorder, and the attempt to recover from these disorders are exasperating. Eating disorders are not something that should be taken lightly. (8)

Barbie is known as one of the most common toys that young girls play with in their adolescent years. These growing girls, look up to Barbie and see her has a role model of perfection. Barbie has a perfect mansion, car, clothes, boyfriend, job and life overall. But most of all, she has the “perfect” body. This is the woman that most girls desire to be like when they grow up. They want to be perfect, just like Barbie. This desire for perfection is one of the main causes of eating disorders for both men and women around the world. While there are many different organizations and treatment establishments, the aid required in overcoming an eating disorder is very expensive. Many insurance companies

Searching for what society sees as the perfect body has caused a risk of eating disorders. Anorexia is where someone doesn’t eat at all or very little, one way a girl would accomplish ‘’the perfect body’’. When one has anorexia it can cause them to die from starvation. bulimia is where someone will eat then will proceed to make themselves throw up. If someone is to go into bulimia it causes their insides to be destroyed. Depression is where one is unhappy to an extreme and has self conflict. That can be the start of anorexia or bulimia . This brings a lot of pressure on girls to have perfect bodies and the public doesn’t help them.

Millions of people struggle daily to maintain a perfect physical body image in hopes of receiving approval, love, and happiness. The need to maintain this perfect image is supported by society and the media with a mirage of messages that you can be happy if you obtain this perfect image. Society 's ideals of what the human body should look like have caused numerous people to develop abnormal eating patterns in a contempt to conform and seek society 's approval of their body image.

Joseph and M. Shiffrar, “eating disorders are syndromes characterized by severe disturbances in eating and excessive concern about body shape or weight” (2011). These are induced by a “complex interaction” of genetic, behavioral, psychological, and social factors as assessed by researchers at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). As previously stated, anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa are the most prominent and preferred disorders.

In addition to the history of anorexia nervosa, the causes of this eating disorder play a major role in their mentality. This is important to examine because people with anorexia are often using food and eating as a way to gain control when parts of their lives are stressful or overwhelming. According to Eating Disorders: An Encyclopedia of Causes, Treatment, and Prevention, “The causes of eating disorders are multifaceted and usually include a combination of psychological, familial, sociocultural, and biological or genetic factors rather than a sole determinant of the disorder. “(103). When it comes to the psychological causes of anorexia many individuals often have low self-worth, low self-esteem, and strive for perfectionism. Having a low

Unfortunately, a not so uncommon problem in American society regarding body image is the development of eating disorders. Though the causes are not always known, a seriously negative perception of body image may result in unhealthy eating patterns. The two most widely known eating disorders are anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. Those with anorexia believe that thinness is the key to self-worth and most are never satisfied with their own body image. Contrary to popular belief, anorexia does not deal directly with food; it has been described that anorexia is an unhealthy way to “cope with emotional problems” (Mayo Clinic). Dieting occupies most of their day, and many purposely starve to lose weight. Many of those affected refuse to maintain a healthy weight and become extremely thin, due to being intensely afraid of gaining weight.

The research study examined possible correlations between various types of perfectionism and levels of recovery from eating disorders. The researchers conducted their experiment by comparing different conceptions of perfectionism across a healthy control group and fully recovered, partially recovered, and current (active) eating disorder groups. The researchers who conducted this experiment were Anna M. Bardone-Cone, PhD, Katrina Sturm, BA, Melissa A. Lawson, MD, Dr. Paul Robinson, MD, and Roma Smith, LPN. Anna M. Bardone-Cone, Katrina Sturm, and Melissa A. Lawson are from the Department of Psychological Sciences at the University of Missouri in Columbia Missouri. Dr. Paul Robinson and Roma Smith are from the

Having this unnecessary amount of pressure to have perfect bodies can affect people negatively in a health-related way. One example that supports this is that girls can gain eating disorders. In an attempt to not gain any weight, young women can develop eating disorders called anorexia nervosa (restricting their food intake and becoming afraid of food in fear of gaining weight). Anorexia nervosa affects nearly 75% of females. Bulimia Nervosa, more commonly known as “binge and purge” is also seen in females (Moreau). This is important because the pressure at home and from society can cause girls to feel as though they need to change when in actuality they are perfect. Another example that shows that girls can develop health problems because

Which can happen within the family when there is anxiety or compulsivity. Or when there is abnormal eating behavior in one family member. Another cause is the influence of media, where models are airbrushed and altered to enhance physical appearance. Also another other cause is the influence of social and cultural values. Last cause that can contribute to disordered eating behavior is the influence of personality. Ways to prevent eating disorder is to get rid of the idea that a particular diet, weight or body size will automatically lead to happiness and fulfillment. “Avoid categorizing foods as ‘good/safe’ vs. ‘bad/dangerous’ Stop judging others and yourself based on body weight or shape” (Casa Palmera

Depression is not the only factor involved with body dissatisfaction. Females who have body dissatisfaction are at a higher risk to develop an eating disorder. Allie Kovar (2009) in her article entitled “Effects of the Media on Body Image” refers to a 2006 National Eating Disorder Association report, which found that eating disorders have more than tripled in females over the past seventy years. This is due to the fact that the media is always portraying the “thin