Research Paper On Eating Disorders

Attention Getter: February 4, 1983 was the day that opened the eyes of America to the view of the damaging effects of eating disorders. This day marks the death of the very famous singer of the time, Karen Carpenter. Looking glamorous and confident on the outside, most did not know she was suffering from Anorexia Nervosa (B5). Throughout her teenage years, she was overweight. In 1967, weighing 140 pounds, Karen was put on a water diet by her doctor. This brought her down to 120 pounds (B6). Even though she was now at a healthy weight, she was still insecure due to her large amount of celebrity peers who were the ideal, perfect weight. Taking dozens of thyroid pills a day and throwing up the little food she ate, by

Eating disorders are alive and well in today’s world and they are a major problem. An eating disorder can look like a few different things, ranging from a severe reduction of food intake to over eating to feelings of negativity towards your body shape or weight (Lehigh University). While some disorders can only be found in specific age groups, races, etc., eating disorders can be found amongst all and it does not necessarily have to be pointed towards food (Lehigh University). In fact, the four areas primarily affect eating disorders: psychological, interpersonal, social, and biological. I am going to talk about three specific eating disorders: anorexia nervosa (AN), bulimia nervosa (BN) and binge eating disorder (BED). Keep in mind that there could be other eating disorders out there that are not found and classified just yet (Lehigh University).

According to the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders, “the body type portrayed in advertising as the ideals is possessed naturally by only 5% of American females.” (“ANAD”) Body image has been a controversial theme because of the influence of the media. It is a widely known fact that eating disorder cases are on the rise. The concept of body image is a subjective matter. The common phrase, “Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder,” holds true meaning in this sense. One’s view and value of their body is self-imposed. Falling into the destructive eating disorders reveals much about a person’s psychological and emotional state. Examining the mental, physical, and emotional conditions behind recognized eating

One of the most common issues that society faces today are the mental diseases related to eating. Bordo, in her essay, "The Globalization of Eating Disorder," tackles body-image distortion syndromes, because that is how the media lets people perceive its content, and make us believe that media standards are beautiful. It is important to understand that Bordo's essay contains a powerful message regarding the road we are taking with regards to how we

Real beauty is found in a person's heart, not in their appearance, but the media rarely portrays this though. Most magazines and television shows feature only excessively thin people. Unfortunately, this causes teenagers whose bodies don't match those same proportions to look at their selves with hatred. Every lump and bulge becomes despised, and soon, they have a full-blown eating disorder.

People are often exposed to the media 's ideal body image, whether it 's through magazines, television, toys (e.g. Barbie dolls), or social media, it is almost impossible to avoid it. There are numerous of people who desire to look the way the world defines beauty. And although this may not seem like so much of a bad thing, this can lead to hardships for many people. This type of influence has caused countless individuals to endure an eating disorder in order to get the body they wish to have. Eating disorders are a worldwide problem that are very dangerous due to having many types of disorders and symptoms that occur, the effects that take place in a patient 's mental

A combination of genetic, physical, social, and psychological factors may contribute to the development of an eating disorder, such as Anorexia. Anorexia is an emotional disorder characterized by an obsessive desire to lose weight by refusing to eat. Eating disorders effect ten million females and one million males in the United States. Also 0.3 percent of the eating disorders occur in teenage children.

Many may see someone who has an eating disorder as someone who wants 'attention,' while disregarding all of the several factors that play a part in causing someone to take this path in their life. The list of causes goes on and on, yet the basics are right under our noses. Vaguely speaking, biological factors, psychological factors, and environmental factors all take a place on the stand for being causes ("Disorder Hope").

Media success has always been based on the exploitation of the rare or controversial. Magazines, television, and documentaries always seem to focus on unusual situations or the belittling of an individual’s habits. No one is to blame, however exploiting people and their unhealthy choices should be frowned upon, but society thrives off of the “unknown” and “lesser-seen”. Eating abnormalities seem to have become the newest trend, putting teen pregnancy and drug abuse on the backburner. Shows seem to focus solely on health implications caused by overeating, not eating, or eating foreign objects. Has the media's constant infatuation with the irregular led society to become desensitized to these outlandish topics, or has society begun to

Poet Allen Ginsberg once said that “whoever controls the media-the images-controls the culture”, and nothing could be truer than this. Media plays a larger role in society within this generation more than many of us are aware of. It can easily impact people’s lives through aspects such as sports, fashion, movies or hobbies, but unfortunately, one of these impacts is how we view our body. Media constantly posts images and messages promoting a nearly unachievable and unrealistic image of what beauty looks like and it almost always has negative fallout when we struggle to meet this. This is known as an eating disorder. An eating disorder is a psychological sickness that results in dangerous eating habits and both short and long term affects on the body. People with eating disorders generally have a negative perception of their self will try to control their weight through unnecessary dieting, exercising or purging. But how does this illness begin? Social media sites, advertising, celebrities and other forms of media through society are all social pressures that are influencing people to be “perfect” and causing this expanding matter.

In America, the words “beautiful”, “fit”, and “thin” are often used to describe someone that has the ideal “perfect” body, everyone’s perception of it can vary and about half of the population has the body that many people adore or aim to have. However, not everyone has or can achieve the ideal body type, some people will go to extreme measures to either gain or lose weight just to feel accepted in today’s society. These dangerous actions can result in a person developing an eating disorder that can alter their lives both physically and mentally. “An eating disorder is an illness that can be defined as having irregular or abnormal eating habits while being concerned about body weight or shape”

Family systems have long been explored as a framework to understand and treat eating disorders. Many existing explanations surmise that dysfunctional familial processes, most often involving mothers and daughters, are associated with eating disturbance (Ringer & Crittenden, 2 007; Pollack & Keaschuk, 2008). These family systems appear to be impaired by both oedipal and preoedipal pathologies (Sours, 1980; Schulman, 2002). The purpose of this paper is to offer an explanation for the role of identification in bulimia nervosa within both oedipal and preoedipal clients. Two cases are presented to illustrate ways in which two women’s identification with the maternal object prevented expression of rage towards her, and instead turned against the self as the body was attacked via bingeing and self-induced vomiting.

Psychological illnesses in which a person has abnormal eating habits such as eating too much or eating too little are called eating disorders. There are three main types of eating disorders. The types or eating disorders are bulimia nervosa, anorexia nervosa and binge eating disorder. There are many causes of eating disorders. Eating disorders are most commonly caused by the way genetic vulnerability, psychological factors, and socio-cultural influences (Eating Disorders Risk Factors). Eating disorders can be very harmful or even deadly.

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manuel of Mental Disorders 5th edition defines anorexia nervosa as an eating disorder characterized by self-starvation and excessive weight loss; it is a serious and potentially life-threatening disorder. According to the DSM 5, the typical diagnostic symptoms of anorexia nervosa are: dramatic weight loss leading to significant low body weight for the individuals age, sex, and health; preoccupation with weight; restriction of food, calories and fat; constant dieting; feeling “fat” or overweight despite weight loss and fear about gaining weight or being “fat.” Many individuals with anorexia nervosa deny feeling hungry and often avoid eating meals with others, resulting in withdrawal from usual friends and activities

How much does your child eat? Most kids in the U.S. are overweight or just refuse to stop eating. So eating disorders are a problem in the U.S. anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge-eating disorder These are just some of the disorders your child may have.