Individual Psychology in the Real World

Psychology can be applied to everyday life in many ways. The three main ways Psychology applies to my life is through motivation and emotion, Stress and health and Psychological therapies. These topics of psychology are the ones that best describe my life. When most people think of psychology they think of therapists and psychological disorders. Psychology is much more than that and applies to everyone’s life in some form.

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 a very serious psychological condition that affects your mind so that you are more focused on your food and weight than you are on everything else. The most known and most commonly diagnosed eating disorders are anorexia, bulimia, and binge eating disorder; however, these are not the only eating disorders. Eating disorders cause psychical and psychological problems, which at their worst can even become life threating. Statistics show that more women are affected by eating disorders, but men none the less can still be affected. “Age (most common from teens to early twenties), Family history (hereditary), emotional disorders (people with anxiety disorders and obsessive-compulsive disorder are at a great chance), transitions (moving, heading to college, or anything that can bring emotional distress), and sports (ballerinas, gymnasts, runners, and wrestlers are at a higher risk) also can play a role in who is being affected by an eating disorder” (Eating Disorders).

We know that eating disorders involve serious disturbances in eating behavior and extreme concern about body size or weight. We also know that eating disorders can be life-threatening if treatment is not provided or is not effective. But we do not completely understand what causes eating disorders. Generally, scientists believe they arise from a complex interaction of genetic, psychological, and sociocultural factors (Smolin and Mary Grosvenor, 42).

After watching Dying to be Thin, I have come to the conclusion that eating disorders are a complex systemic disease. I believe that eating disorders are systemic because there was not one person from Dying to be Thin who independently developed these disorders. For example, most of the people who had eating disorders developed them because of some social pressure. I put the systemic title on eating disorders because it would appear that they develop because of dysfunction in multiple systems of an individual’s life. However, I do not want to take the responsibility off the individual who has an eating disorder. I theorize that these individuals have poor coping mechanisms in life. Their coping mechanisms are so poor that they willingly put themselves in harm’s way in order to relieve their anxiety. There was one girl in the video who said the eating was the only thing in life she felt she could control. It comes to no surprise that she could relive her general anxiety by having some form of control in her life.

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.

The principles and theories of Social Psychology are important and useful in assessing behaviors in situations. These social psychological principles and their applications can be seen in fictional films which can also be attributed to everyday life. One such film that holds certain social psychological perspectives is Will Gluck’s 2010 production of Easy A. A film about high school student Olive Penderghast and how a sudden change in popularity and financial status, after an unintentional rumor about how she supposedly lost her virginity to a college guy spread through the entire her school. The film draws on the behavioral connections of pronounced hussy Olive Penderghast and her English class’s assigned reading of The Scarlet Letter.

Ringer and Crittenden’s (2007) study examined the pattern of attachment in women with an eating disorder to determine what types of self-protective strategies they used and also whether there was a specific relationship between strategy and diagnosis. Their study used the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) method.

Currently, in the United States, “eight million Americans suffer with an eating disorder” (National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders, 2013, p.1). Though many may think that an eating disorder is only common in a woman’s life, men also suffer from this disease. Taking that statistic further, “ninety five percent of Americans between the ages of twelve and twenty five have an eating disorder” (National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders, 2013, p.1). Men and women develop an eating disorder which results from a psych disorder. This disease is becoming an issue in America because “10% of Americans die in 10 years from an eating disorder” and everyone must become educated on this topic (National

Many theorists believe that family dynamics of those suffering from eating disorders may have contributed to their illness. For instance, anorexic families have sought to be closely related, with perfectionistic attitudes, and higher socioeconomic status. Cole-Detke & Konak (1996) described anorexic families as dependent on their child which results in the sufferer being tired to their needy parents by stopping their daughter from actually developing her own autonomy and sense of separation into the world. According to attachment theory, disordered eating behaviors and the attempt to control

The American Psychologist Association (APA) defines psychology as ‘the study of the mind and behaviour . The discipline embraces all aspects of the human experience — from the functions of the brain to the actions of nations, from child development to care for the aged. ‘(Association, 2014). With such an extensive definition, it is not overly surprising that its scientific kudos has been used to propagate political dogma, including abominable beliefs such as the innate inferiority of black people (Howitt and Owusu-Bempah, 1994) and to facilitate the legalislation of racist laws such as the American Jim Crow laws that placed severe restrictions on the rights and privileges of African Americans in 1877 (Brown and Stentiford,

The correlation between eating disorders and other psychological disorders is very important for our understanding of the causes and possible treatments for eating disorders. It is known that many people with eating disorders also fit the criteria for several DSM-IV psychological disorders. If researchers can find patterns of comorbidity between these two types of disorders they may be able to better diagnose and treat patients with both of these disorders. The question that I pose it what is the relationship between eating disorders and personality disorders(axis 11 disorders in DSM-IV)? It is important to look for comorbidity between the two disorders to determine the impact they have on each

Allport defines personality as ‘the dynamic organisation within the individual of those psychological systems that determine his unique adjustment to his environment’ (Allport, 1937). An individual’s unique personality traits and attributes are a powerful indicator of how he/she will interact with the work environment. The difference between average and outstanding employees can often be solely personality related. As the employee is the most valuable asset to the company, ‘selecting the right employee during the process is critical’ (Carbery and Cross, 2013, pp. 41-53)

There are multiple ways to be guided to an eating disorder other than the media. “Eating behavior is a complex process controlled by the neuroendocrine system of which the Hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal-axis (HPA axis) is a major component” (News Medical). Psychological research is very important to patients who have an eating disorder. Throughout the research in the paper, researchers have come to a conclusion that some of the qualities in the brain a person has a certain level

Eating disorders can cause problems for both men and women of all ages. According to authors Brytek-Matera and Czepczor, “An eating disorder is defined as a persistent disturbance of eating or eating-related behavior leading to changes in the consumption or absorption of food that results in physiological and psychosocial