Themes Of Anorexia

     The family tends to play an important role in the development of eating disorders. Males tend to have very strict, domineering fathers who encouraged development in sports. It has also been recognized that many men with eating disorders may not have had a father figure around at all. (Zerbe, 1992) Their mothers have been described as overprotective and controlling. (Romero, 1994) Adolescent boys with eating disorders relate that parents or siblings are usually on diets as well and there tends to be an emphasis on food and dieting

Genetic factors can also play its part in contributing - anorexia in teenage girls occurs eight times more often in people who have relatives with the disorder. (Anorexia – a guide to sufferers and their families R.L Palmer 1980). My own Mother was grossly overweight at the time of my condition and I viewed her as someone who was completely out of control with no respect

In this article “Fighting Anorexia: No One to Blame” it discusses the struggles and challenges children face as young as 8 years old and teens from 13 to 18 years of age when dealing with the eating disorder “Anorexia Nervosa.” Which is defined in our text as an “eating disorder characterized by self-starvation” (Bee, pg. 384). The staff of “Newsweek” also discuss who or what is to blame for anorexia nervosa in the past parents have been blamed when their children have shown signs in regards to this disorder. Research has shifted from blaming the parents to the possibility anorexia might have some links to mental disorder, genetics or even environmental factors which can influence the disorder. Lastly, the article discusses various

Doctors are now comparing anorexia to a biological disease that may be initiated by environmental factors, such as, stress and trauma. The reason these independent variables cannot be tested is because the dependent variables in this case would be genes and

An eating disorder has complex origins. Although most people think that an obsession with weight and appearance leads to this deadly disease, this is merely the surface issue. Along with the ultimate need for control, other causes can be genetic factors, parental influence, behavioral influence, environmental influence, and biochemistry. Many studies have found that eating disorders run in families. Almost always, it is the closely related females in the family who are affected. Some researchers believe that negative parental influence can come from both the maternal and paternal sides. Mothers often comment on their daughters' appearance, whether on their physical shape or on their ability to dress well. So often simple motherly love turns into a psychological desire for their daughters to be what they were not. Studies have found that these

People with anorexia see themselves as overweight even though they are dangerously thin. The process of eating becomes an obsession to them. Anorexia is a psychiatric disorder, which usually co-exist with other disorder such as, anxiety, depression, and substance abuse. There are many biological and environmental factors that play a major role in developing anorexia. Genetics is one of the biological factors that may play a role. The tie between anorexia and one’s genes is still being heavily researched. Nutritional deficiencies and irregular hormone functions can as while. Some environmentally factors could be like a family or childhood traumas such as sexual abuse. Peer pressure among friends and co-workers to be thin and careers that promote being thin and weight loss such as, ballet and modeling can also play an important

Categorically, adolescents with anorexia nervosa have a chronic low body weight and are below 85 percent of their expected body weight (Lock, & Fitzpatrick, 2007). Anorexia nervosa is most commonly diagnosed in adolescents, an age that can increase the risks of malnutrition, weight loss, osteoporosis, growth arrest, and absent puberty. Anorexia nervosa can damage an adolescent’s identity, and has the highest death rates of any psychiatric illness (Aspen & Boutelle, 2013; Grave et al., 2014). Adolescents that suffer from anorexia nervosa tend to be perfectionists causing them to focus on negative beliefs, fear of failure, and fear of disapproval. They are often high achievers, are inflexible and rigid in their thinking, and see their symptoms as achievements (Hurst & Zimmer- Gembeck, 2015; Westwood & Kendal, 2012).

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.

Children who had to nurture themselves from a young age don’t trust adults because they weren’t shown affection, which causes the child to have no healthy dependence on their parents, which then causes them to rely on the media to get a sense of self-worth. This self-worth is found in their physical appearance and it causes them to feel the need to starve themselves so they can “measure up to society’s standards.” This example is one of the hundreds of ways that a dysfunctional family can cause a girl to become anorexic. Another possible cause of anorexia is a lack of a sense of femininity. Women seem to find their sense of femininity from men. We look to men to tell us if we are beautiful, ugly, fat, skinny, etc. We tend to base our sense of femininity on our physical appearance which causes us to diet, wear “fashionable clothing,” and it can even cause us to starve ourselves. Fathers play a huge role in their daughters sense of femininity. Our fathers tell us we are valued as women, we are beautiful, and we are cherished. If you grow up with a deceased, absent, or disengaged father, you grow up with a huge hole in your femininity, which causes low self-esteem. The other main focus of Anatomy of Anorexia

In USA, 20 million females and 10 million males are anorexia patient, dissatisfied with their bodies. Moreover this trend is usually seen in youngsters from age 6 to 10, studying in schools. They first of all start feeling complex regarding their body shapes and their chubbiness. [1] Then this complex stars growing more and more unless some counseling or control is done. If kids get no help they might develop such complex further into anorexia. Normally it happens to girls that at the age of 6, they start developing their body shape and weight concerns, contrary to

The culture and society people live in today tells people that in order to fit in then they have to be perfect. In order to become perfect people starve themselves, which can lead to anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. Media also plays a huge part in causing eating disorders. TV, movies, magazines and the internet give unrealistic images on what a persons bodies should look like. Media uses airbrushed models as an image of the average woman but in reality the model weighs twenty- three percent less than the average woman (Self Image Media Influences). Women see these images and take unhealthy measures to try and fit the standards set by media. Researchers at Duke University took a survey and discovered that forty percent of nine and ten year old girls have admitted to being on a diet. In a study based on self-image three out of four girls said that they are overweight but only one out of them was, the Rader Programs did this study (self Image Media

I was not surprised to learn that eating disorders are more common in the Western countries than any others, and I was also not surprised by the rising percentage of minority students feeling more and more uncomfortable in their own skins, feeling the need to control and change their bodies to fit in. Martha mentions the importance of family in these kinds of situations, and I agree completely. The textbook mentioned that people, mostly those with anorexia, who try family or parent therapy are better equipped at treating and defeating the disorder. Both disorders are rooted in underlying causes, whatever they may be, but once they are uncovered and treated, most (about 75% according to the textbook) improve fully or

Although the exact cause of anorexia isn't known, studies show that it is possibly a combination of biological, psychological, and/or environmental factors ("Diseases and Conditions: Anorexia Nervosa, 2014). Scientists have yet to figure out exactly which gene(s) are involved in causing anorexia, but it can be acquired genetically, and surprisingly enough, it is seen more in twins than individual people ("Diseases and Conditions: Anorexia Nervosa, 2014). Young women can who have an obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) personality can have an extreme obsession of perfectionism toward their body, which can make them become anorexic due to the fact that they don't think they are thin enough ("Diseases and Conditions: Anorexia Nervosa, 2014). By having OCD, young women are more vulnerable to being anorexic because it makes it easy for them to "...stick to strict diets and forgo food despite being hungry.." ("Diseases and Conditions: Anorexia Nervosa, 2014). Young women with OCD and anorexia nervosa usually have high anxiety levels and "...engage in restrictive eating to reduce it" ("Diseases and Conditions: Anorexia Nervosa, 2014). "Modern Western culture emphasizes thinness. Success and worth are often equated with being thin" ("Diseases and Conditions: Anorexia Nervosa, 2014).

Anorexia affects millions of people worldwide with an estimated eight million in America alone. It is a complex eating disorder that is most commonly associated with teenagers and is characterized by an abnormally low body weight, intense fear of gaining weight and a distorted perception of body weight. It affects not only the people with the disease but also the people close to them who have to observe the extreme physical and mental changes the anorexic

Some researchers have found that anorexia nervosa is a culture bound syndrome. Nowadays, People are mostly influenced by the western culture, by the media ignoring their health because they have set a standard and they