Teenagers in Today’s World are Affected by Society’s Projection of Self-image

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.

It is now defined as “Recurring episodes of eating significantly more food in a short period of time than most people would eat under similar circumstances, with episodes marked by feelings of lack of control.… The person may have feelings of guilt, embarrassment, or disgust and may binge eat alone to hide the behavior”. It is important to note that there is a difference between over-eating and binge-eating, while over-eating is a recognizable problem for many people, “binge-eating is much less common, far more severe, and associated with significant physiological and psychological problems” (DSM 5). Binge Eating Disorder is similar to Bulimia Nervosa in that we see episodes of eating large amounts of food, the difference being that there is no purging after the binging episode. It is seen highly among obese patients, but, perhaps due to a reluctance to relate obesity with an eating disorder, it was not recognized as distinct from Bulimia Nervosa until the early 1990s (Gordon, 2000).

Binge eating disorder (BED) is a psychiatric condition characterized by the consumption of large quantities of food in a specific amount of time, and feeling out of control while eating. BED also involves feelings of guilt and shame after binging but is not accompanied by compensatory behaviors, such as purging or vomiting. Binge eating is described by “eating at a fast pace, eating until feeling uncomfortably full, eating when not feeling hungry, eating alone to hide the amount of food consumed, and feeling depressed and ashamed afterwards” (Binge). Consequently, BED may cause weight gain. However, not all obese people have BED; only “two-thirds of individuals with BED are obese” (Binge). Consuming excessive amounts of Calories and exceeding the recommended dietary allowance can lead to obesity and its associated health risks. Possible health issues include high blood pressure and cholesterol, heart disease, type II diabetes, gallbladder disease, hypertension, and stroke (Binge).

Binge Eating Disorder is known as eating too much or consuming major amounts of food and not being able to stop or feeling out of control. Binge eating is comforting for a brief moment, but then the feeling of guilt and self-loathing flood in. Generally, it takes a combination of things to develop a binge eating disorder. It usually begins in late adolescence or early adulthood, and it often occurs more in women than in men. People who have binge eating disorder usually have trouble handling their emotions and often feel out of control in their everyday life. Binge eating disorders often stem in people who are overweight, but it can occur in people of normal weight also. Although many people know that binge eating disorder is caused by psychological issues, they often do not know that it is also caused by behavioral and environmental issues as well.

The most extreme form of physical modifications among adolescences is plastic surgery. Today there are only two types of plastic surgeries available, which include: cosmetic and reconstructive (Monohar). If a person is not entirely satisfied with a certain or many body parts, he or she can undergo cosmetic surgery to alter the body until he or she is satisfied. However, reconstructive

Eating disorders not only affect teenagers, but also affect actresses and actors as well. An actress that stood out to me is Demi Lovato. She faced tremendous pressures brought up by Disney channel. The company put pressure on her to lose weight, to be skinny, and therefore she struggled with eating disorder. After surviving it, and gaining weight, she received a comment regarding her body. Demi Lovato argued that, “I've gained weight. Get over it. That's what happens when you get out of treatment for an eating disorder." (Woodward). But this didn’t change how the media portrayed teenagers, the company later on made a joke regarding eating disorders, once Demi Lovato heard the joke, she found it funny that the company can lose one of their actresses from the pressures regarding body image and eating disorders, and still make jokes about it. After the company made those jokes, the episode of shake it up promoting the

Every day teenagers spend 3 hours watching Tv, 6 hours online and 3.5 hours looking in a mirror. Body image is one of the issues that teenagers experience in their lives, it is how you see yourself physically and mentally. A healthy body image is when you can fully accept yourself. 80% teen girls are unhappy with their body image. Body products make us feel bad about ourselves and makes us want to buy their products. Media is one of the causes that make teenagers feel ‘ugly’ and not confident in themselves. Signs of body images are everywhere from food to cars, teenagers look at these bodies as a point of reference and try to look like them. Girls are being affected more than boys but it has been proven that very close to reaching the percentage

When someone looks at the new generation, eating disorders, self-harm, and other issues are recognized as things affecting the body; all of these things are becoming more prevalent. A large body of research proves the idea that altering photographs causes eating disorders. The “exposure to thin models results in greater body focused anxiety” (Halliwell). Girls and boys are feeling the need to match the flawless, thin stranger in the snapshot. The anxiety initiated in an adolescent’s life from not meeting the standards of the ideal person in a picture provided by the media causes one to do these horrendous things to the body. Young teens have a negative body image. Girls are being trained to obsess over their weight and appearance not their grades, family, or worth, which are more important. The teenagers do not understand “the gulf between image and reality” that the media generates, which is hurting them mentally and physically (Grundberg 36). The people presented in the photos are expectations, but the reality is that teenagers will never be as thin as a twig, will never have perfect airbrushed skin, and will never have the exact body type one longs for. The precious body one has may never provide enough satisfaction in

Binge Eating, also known as BED, is an eating disorder that effects nearly 5 percent of adults during some period of their lifetime. BED is defined as extreme amounts of episodes of instantaneous and excessive consumption of food that are not always caused by hunger or metabolic need. People who binge eat experience a loss of control that cause them to overcompensate on large amounts and feel uncomfortable. The definition of binge have been unclear and many times misconstrued depending on how a person uses it. Binge Eating is a public health concern that has been strongly associated with physical and psychological conditions. For many of those health reasons this disorder has been introduced in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental

According to Melinda Smith and Jeanne Segal (2017), a person suffering from binge eating disorder overeats regularly while feeling out of control and powerless to stop. Sufferers may eat to the point of discomfort, then will have feelings of guilt, shame, or depression afterwards, they beat themselves up for lack of self-control, or worry about what compulsive eating will do to their body. It is a common eating disorder and typically begins in late adolescence or early adulthood. Binge eating is a vicious cycle. People who have this disorder eat large amounts of food to feel better, later on feeling even worse and then turning back to food for relief. The worse they feel about their apperance, the more they use food to cope. (Melinda Smith,

It is normal to overeat from time to time, but when it comes to binge eating, the urge is persistent and seemingly uncontrollable, and is usually accompanied by feelings of shame and guilt. Binge eating disorder, just like other mental disorders, is strongly linked to depression, low self-esteem, anxiety and stress. Persistent overeating leads to obesity and other serious health conditions.

Now the most common eating disorder in the United States is binge eating disorder (BED). This disorder slightly differs from bulimia. It’s where people binge but without the purging behavior afterwards. A binge can be triggered by stress, dieting, anger, or sadness. Typically, many people binge on junk food such as ice cream and candy. After eating these foods, people often feel a sense of guilt and shame about themselves. It’s because they tend to eat when they are not hungry or are extremely full. In that time food gives them a sense of comfort and eases all the stress. This can lead many adults on the road to heart disease and high cholesterol. Social pressures, biological abnormalities, and depression are heavily linked with binge eating disorder.

Cosmetic plastic surgery is surgical and nonsurgical procedures that reshape the normal body structure in order to improve appearance and self-esteem. Some of the most common cosmetic procedures are breast augmentation, liposuction, and rhinoplasty. Individuals with a healthy mind, positive outlook, and realistic expectations are appropriate candidates for cosmetic procedures. Plastic surgery is a personal choice and should not be done to fulfill someone else’s desires or to try to fit into an ideal image. Teens under the age of eighteen should not be eligible to receive cosmetic surgery because they are not yet fully developed, may not be psychologically prepared, and are not completely aware of the consequences and complications involved with cosmetic surgery.

For some teens, striving for perfection has led to harming their own health and wellbeing such as living with depression and suicide. Teenagers today are relying on what they see in ads, T.V., magazines and on the internet for their input on appearances, the way they think not only comes from media sources, but from family and friends.

According to American Society of Plastic Surgeons, there has been a rapid increase rate in the number of plastic procedures. In 2015, plastic procedures had risen by 4% compared to 2014. There are over 15 millions of kids, teens, women and men receiving plastic surgery. Plastic surgery is given to improve and enhance appearance of someone, the surgery can be performed on the face and body. Because of how plastic surgery can alter appearance, the idea of plastic surgery can become influential to teenagers, making teenagers undergo a dangerous surgery. Not only is the procedure dangerous, but also the aftermath of the surgery. Because there are many non-beneficial factors, plastic surgery is a bad idea and a horrible influence to society.