Abnormal Psychology And Eating Disorders Essay

My current view on food is that it creates a sense of comfort and fulfillment, yet this was not always the case. During my teenage years I struggled with an ongoing eating disorder. During that time I viewed food as a threat, or an enemy. As part of my recovery process, I was given a task to make friends with food. I first approached this task with a closed mind, finding a wrong with every meal I ate. My view changed completely when my friends took me out to a vegan diner for a burger and sweet potato fries meal.

Most people with anorexia have a distorted image of their body. An anorexic will look into the mirror and see fat, even if they are sickly thin. Most commonly, anorexia begins in the teen years. This may be related to the common self-image problems that many teens suffer from. Anorexia tends to be more common in females than in males, and early intervention seems to be the key when dealing with this disorder. When left untreated, anorexia can lead to a whole slew of physical problems. Health problems related to anorexia include osteoporosis, kidney damage or failure, heart problems, and even death. Anorexia also affects the brain, as a person starves themself their metabolism changes. This change in the body causes a person not to think clearly or make good decisions. As anorexia progresses, a person will begin to have irrational behavior. For example, a person suffering from anorexia will often make rules about the amount of food they are “allowed” to consume. Others may start to purge themselves after eating even the tiniest bit of food, which is known as Bulimia. Anorexia can also bring on another psychological disorder; Depression. Depression is a mental illness that causes a person to feel sad and hopeless most of the time. People that suffer from depression will lose interest in things that they previously enjoyed, speak slower than normal, have trouble concentrating and remembering things, and be preoccupied by death

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").

According to the National eating disorders (NEDC) website: Every 60 minutes someone dies of an eating disorder related death. Over 30 million people in the United States are struggling with an eating disorder, and 5 in 200 people are struggling with just Bulimia or Anorexia alone, says Pearl, on people.com. People need to understand Eating Disorders are not a choice, and they are not to be glamorized, NEDC says, they are deadly mental disorders, that can affect anyone. Singer Demi Lovato has become an advocate for eating disorder help and even said herself, “Eating disorders are serious mental illnesses, not lifestyle choices”. If more people were correctly educated about eating disorders, they could be at

Eating disorders are taking over the minds of people day by day. According to the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders, up to 24 million people of all ages and genders suffer from an eating disorder in the United States (ANAD). These mental monsters are not only physical, but they are mentally destroying a person’s thoughts, which affect their overall actions. Not only are eating disorders caused by unrealistic societal expectations, but the monsters come out through the psychological aspects as well. Eating disorders effect the lives of the individual, and family culture is negatively impacted because of this monster.

The person who suffers from anorexia often dennys food and hunger as well as limits parts of life that evolve being socially engaged.(eatingdisorderfoundation,n,p) Anorexia can lead to damaging of the organs. Loss of hair, teeth, bones, and damage towards the heart,liver and kidneys.(Walden,n.page) Dieting can be critical and obsessive, to the point where the person has strong drives towards a negative body image and refuses to consume any amount of food.People who result on dieting, usually care more about appearance rather than health. They create weight-loss goals that focus dangerously on very little to no eating at all. Bulimia involves a routine of binging excessive food in very short periods of time. Immediate purging can cause their bodies to eliminate just eaten food by self-inducing vomit. This eating disorders damages the esophagus as well as the inner digestive system.(Walden,n.page) Both eating disorders affect health negatively and can potentially result to death if not taken care of. Severe self-imposed dietary restrictions do not benefit health, but progresses to dangerous lengths before it is

According to the Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Anorexia nervosa (AN) is defined as “an eating disorder in which people refuse to maintain a minimally required healthy weight for their age and height (body weight less than eighty five percent of expected), have an intense fear of gaining weight and significantly misinterpret their body and shape” (Hasan and Hasan, 2011). Occurring in 0.6% of the population, AN largely affects young adolescent females from a wealthy demographic between the ages 10-30 (Pinel, 2014) (Hasan and Hasan, 2011). These teenage years are distinctive periods of social, psychological, and biological changes. The complexity of the disorder lies in the fact that the cause of it cannot be pinpointed down to a particular reason or event (Lucas, 2004).

In US today, over 30 million men, women, and children suffer from an eating disorder. Research shows that 42% of first- to third-grade girls want to be thinner and 81% of 10-year-olds are afraid of being fat. In fact, most kids with eating disorders began their disordered eating between the ages of 11 and 13. (Eating Dis.3) The most common eating disorders are; Anorexia, Binge eating, and Bulimia. Why do people resort to something so life threatening? Many people are turning towards eating disorders because they don’t accept who they are. Eating disorders are a mental illness that can have dangerous effects on the human body and several people are involved in this bad habit.

Eating disorders have become a problem among women and also men. From magazine models to watching television, being thin and losing weight is a growing fade. I feel the problem is more frequent among women.

It can be a struggle to lose weight if you are overweight or obese and cannot stick to a healthy eating plan. Some people have trouble sticking to a diet because they love eating out with friends or feel hungry all the time, which are two common problems. However, many people have trouble sticking to portion or calorie-restricted diets not because of hunger, but because of disordered eating habits. While your doctor or dietitian can give you a personal eating plan designed to help you lose weight, a counselor is another professional necessary to help you lose weight in a healthy way if you experience one of the following signs of disordered eating.

When you settle down each day for a meal, whether it be breakfast, lunch, or dinner, you just eat, right? To reiterate, you don’t really take into consideration of what you’re eating, as it is something that you usually take for granted, that is, eating. Maybe that’s how it goes for you, eating without thinking. But for some people in the world, eating is something very difficult to do. Either they despise food because they feel that they are too overweight, or that they can’t stop eating because they are always hungry. These people are people who have eating disorders. Eating disorders mostly concern individuals that are usually stressed and depressed, and to deal with these problems they use food to solve it. More specifically they

Studies have shown that three percent of males and eight percent of females who were in high school said that they have either purged or took laxatives to lose weight (3). The symptoms of bulimia are tooth erosion, swallowing problems, esophagus problems, and acute stomach distress (“Eating Disorders”). However, binge eating disorder is completely opposite from anorexia and bulimia. Binge eating is when a person over eats in a short period of time. According to Susan Frissell and Paula Harney, two percent of the population suffers from binge eating disorder (27). Studies show that depression, anxiety, high blood pressure, and stomach pain is found in many people who suffer from binge eating disorder (Elkins 45; Kittleson 4). Many people will develop binge eating disorder because they want to distract themselves from a painful event that has happened in their life (Frissell and Harney 27).

Eating disorders feature serious disturbances in eating behavior and weight regulation. Associated with a wide range of adverse psychological, physical, and social consequences; eating disorders include severe distress or concern about body weight and shape. Eating disorders are more than simply watching your weight or dieting, they include characteristics such as skipping meals, excessive exercise and overeating. Eating disorders are serious emotional and physical issues with life-threatening consequences. Three of the most common eating disorders are: anorexia nervosa, binge eating and bulimia nervosa. Research has shown that one in every five women struggle with an eating disorder and 50% of girls use unhealthy weight control behaviors.

Anorexia has many negative effects as well. According to the University of Maryland Medical Centers article Eating Disorders, “Anorexia nervosa can increase the risk for serious health problems such as: hormonal changes including reproductive, thyroid, stress, and growth hormones, heart problems such as abnormal heart rhythm, electrolyte imbalance, fertility problems, bone density loss, anemia, and neurological problems.” Anorexia can severely affect a person internally. The continuous lack of nutrients can leave an anorexic person extremely frail. The heart in particular can grow so weak, that heart failure occurs. Eating disorders can lead too permanent health damages can stay with a person for the rest of their life.

While not discussed in class, eating disorders are an incredibly important psychological condition that affects millions of people. One of the most well known eating disorders is Bulimia. Bulimia in itself is characterized by episodes of binging and purging. The acts of binging are often quick consumption of abnormally large portions of food to the point of physical pain and discomfort from stomach stretching.