I Am Thin, Video And The Two Studies On Anorexia Nervosa

Incidences of Anorexia Nervosa have appeared to increase sharply in the USA, UK and western European countries since the beginning of the 60s (Gordon, 2001). The increasing prevalence of the disease has led the World Health Organisation to declare eating disorders a global priority area within adolescent mental health (Becker et al. 2011). Anorexia has in many ways become a modern epidemic (Gordon, 2000) and with a mortality rate of 10% per decade (Gorwood et al. 2003), the highest of any mental disorder (Bulik et al. 2006), it is an epidemic that social and biological scientists have been working tirelessly to understand.

The film “Dying to be Thin” followed the cases of several individuals who have struggled with an eating disorder at some point in their lives, showing the different factors that play a role in eating disorder onset. Different individuals in the film have different reasons for developing an eating disorder but there are some over-arching themes such as the media’s influence, career-related pressures, and certain personality types.

“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

Thesis Statement: It is important to understand eating disorders and the types of eating disorders to overcome them and seek the proper treatment.

After watching the video on “Dying to be Thin,” the one statement that really stuck with me was that in order for someone to have some kind of eating disorder, there has to be vulnerability. I find that statement to be extremely true. There needs to be a sense of vulnerability for someone to feel so down about themselves that in order for them to make them feel better, they have to change their body image for them to feel like they are attractive. The video really specifically highlights the issues with anorexia nervosa compared to bulimia nervosa and binge eating disorder. For clinicians and researchers, this may be a difficult to really find

There are behavioral similarities among individuals suffering from Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia Nervosa such as feeling they are in control where they may have lacked power or control in their lives, feeling more confident, and the ability to avoid uncomfortable emotions through disordered eating behavior. However, there are also significant differences. According to the articles, those who suffer from AN consistently communicate this disordered eating behavior makes them feel more attractive, increases confidence and elicits a feeling of superiority, where as those who suffer from BN more often communicate a negative self-image and feelings of shame and defectiveness. BN patients also conveyed their desire to keep their illness a secret whereas AN patients are generally more concerned with their thinness being obvious to others and gaining attention. BN is frequently accompanied by depression, and feelings of self-loathing indicating a high prevalence of comorbidity, and those suffering from this illness experience a disturbance in feeling satisfied with a

After viewing the video “Dying to be Thin” and reading the articles on eating disorders, I felt as though my knowledge was broadened on this topic. Because I plan to work with adolescents, this awareness is crucial to my future career. Some of the statistics that the video shared were alarming; 8 million people suffer from eating disorders, with majority being women. The video shared that 80% of women are unhappy or not satisfied with their body. Eating disorders also hold the highest death rate of any psychiatric illness, with anorexia nervosa being the deadliest. The video also gave me insight as to what professional athletes and dancers experience, as well as valuable feedback from survivors.

Bulimia nervosa is an eating disorder characterized by binge eating as well as by self-induced vomiting and/or laxative abuse (Mitchell, 1986). Episodes of overeating typically alternate with attempts to diet, although the eating habits of bulimics and their methods of weight control vary (Fairburn et al., 1986). The majority of bulimics have a body weight within the normal range for their height, build, and age, and yet possess intense and prominent concerns about their shape and weight (Fairburn et al., 1986). Individuals with bulimia nervosa are aware that they have an eating problem, and therefore are often eager to receive help. The most common approach to

In my research, I explored the world of eating disorders. I wanted to see if there was anything specifically encouraging eating disorders and if there was a way to stop it. Eating disorders affect the community greatly because often times, they go unchecked or unrecognized. As a recovered anorexic, I feel it’s very important to address this issue. It’s a very big problem that is often not addressed at all, or is seen as normal, like counting calories. I hoped to find a way to improve the way that eating disorders are viewed and explain to people about what defines an eating disorder, because many people will never know if it is not explicitly explained to them. My study’s purpose is to bring light into the dark world of eating disorders

With sixty percent of Americans being obese, it is startling to find that an outrageous one to three percent suffer from anorexia nervosa or bulimia nervosa (National Institute of Mental Health). These are the people who actually work to maintain their weight. It is an extremely hazardous way to do so, but at least they are trying. Being anorexic is unsafe, but that does not always mean they are bulimic too. Anorexic people can also be the gym junkies who do nothing but work out. Hard to imagine but it is true. These are the people who are greatly influenced by the media the one to three percent of all America’s population, an incredible three million compared to the 182 million who are overweight and the ninety million who are obese.

Anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder that consists of self-regulated food restriction in which the person strives for thinness and also involves distortion of the way the person sees his or her own body. An anorexic person weighs less than 85% of their ideal body weight. The prevalence of eating disorders is between .5-1% of women aged 15-40 and about 1/20 of this number occurs in men. Anorexia affects all aspects of an affected person's life including emotional health, physical health, and relationships with others (Shekter-Wolfson et al 5-6). A study completed in 1996 showed that anorexics also tend to possess traits that are obsessive in nature and carry heavy emotional

Today we live in a world full of ridicule and expectations concerning our body image. The morphed image of a perfect body consists of a skinny and toned waist, perfect hair and makeup, and pearly white straight teeth. Models, actors, singers and other celebrities that everyone idols go to great lengths to make their body perfect. This stressed image of a perfect body has led to an enormous outbreak of mental disorders seen predominately in high school and college students, especially anorexia nervosa. Individuals suffering from this mental health disorder are not fully aware of the severe symptoms and risk factors this disorder brings, or the treatment available to them. Stigmatization and from friends, family and society like self infliction and addiction lead to an internal battle for a person suffering with anorexia.

Anorexia nervosa and bulimia are eating disorders that severely affect both men and women around the world. The cause of the eating disorder usually derives from psychological, biological and social forces. Eating disorders have become an epidemic in American society, twenty-four million people of all ages and genders suffer from an eating disorder in the U.S. (National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders.\, 2011). There are many ways to address and treat an eating disorder. There have been multiple studies conducted to test the effectiveness of different types of treatment. My central research question analyzes the relationship between the continuation of the eating disorder with the presence of intervention or some

Fairborn (2005) points out that there is a range of treatment options and a variety of treatment settings for anorexia nervosa, however there is inadequate empirical support for this abundance of options as what minimal research on the treatment has been inconclusive. One reasoning behind this is that anorexia nervosa has been an uncommon disorder and sample sizes for studies have been low. Furthermore, the lack of evidence based treatment research can be attributed to the individual’s avoidance of treatment and dropping out of treatment. Many individuals with anorexia nervosa are unwilling to change as their identity and self-worth are intertwined with their distorted body image; they tend to deny that anything is wrong with their weight and are ambivalent on changing (Abbate-Daga, Amianto, Delsedime, De-Bacco & Fassino,

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