Eating Disorders Essay

Nowadays, when people emphasis more and more on healthy lifestyles, both exercise and food intake have become a big part of the consideration. With the goals of being fit and losing weight, some people eat irregularly or do not eat at all. As a result, eating disorders seem more often on news and reports. However, some people still view it as a joke. With the increasing number of people diagnosed with eating disorders, people should raise awareness on the effects of eating disorders and treat them seriously.

Eating Disorders are, “eating behaviors that develop to deal with problems,” such as, “self-esteem, emotional regulation, fear of growing up and relationship problems” according to Mehler and Andersen (2017) in their book Eating disorders: A guide to medical care and complications.

Eating Disorders affect 5-10 million Americans, and thousands of people die each year from their complications. Although some groups are at a greater risk than others, eating disorders occur in people of all ages, races, and socioeconomic backgrounds. We do not know what causes eating disorders, but many factors have been identified that may play a role (Smolin and Mary Grosvenor, 40).

Eating disorders are diseases in which people have an unhealthy relationship with their food, and negative image reflecting how their body looks, such as, the fear of gaining weight. This type of body dysmorphia can lead to damaging eating habits, such as; starvation, purging, and even binging. Furthermore, there are numerous eating disorders recognized today, the most common being binge disorder, causing the affected person to eat far too much and experience pain, discomfort, and irritable bowel symptoms, bulimia which causes the affected person to purge their food through vomiting, and one of the most common eating disorders -- anorexia nervosa. (Eating Disorders, 2008) Many of these disorders can be treated in multiple ways, the most common way is through counselling with a social worker, the social worker helps develop a treatment plan for the client and aids them in their recovery.

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 occurrence of eating disorders are a serious problem worldwide. A major problem with this disease, abnormal eating behaviour that can threaten your health or even your life,(1)

Most women began to have an eating disorder due to stress, depression, and anger. An eating disorder is an emotional and physical addiction, not only does it control your body, it also controls your mind as

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”

Eating disorders are serious psychological conditions with grave consequences for the individuals affected by them. Eating disorders have a 20% mortality rate, with anorexia accounting for approximately 5.1 deaths per 1000 persons and bulimia accounting for 1.74 deaths per 1000 persons (Arcelus, J., Mitchell, A.J., Wales, J., & Nielsen, S., 2011; Trent, Moreira,

Eating disorders are a disease that can impact an individual’s health adversely by causing their emotions and capability to function in the significant areas of their life. There are two most common eating disorders and they are: anorexia nervosa, and bulimia nervosa. These disorders often begin to formulate during the teenage years of an individual’s life and can carry on through their adult years. Research states that “According to the DSM-5 (APA, 2013), eating disorders are characterized by a persistent disturbance in eating behavior” (Butcher et al., 2013, p.294). All of these disorders influences a person’s nutrition and can serious affect their internal organs.

There are many different biological approaches that explain the reasons for eating disorders they all have some validity behind them to a certain extent. An eating disorder is a psychological dysfunction that causes a person to change their eating habits to eating less, or more etc.

Eating disorders can be characterized by abnormal or disturbed eating patterns that lead to poor physical or psychological health. These different forms of disordered eating can often be related to other psychiatric illness. Eating disorders are of interest to many psychologists and are commonly researched to find the biological, developmental, and social backgrounds connected to them. The most common eating disorder in the United States is binge eating disorder. People with this disorder frequently consume large amounts of food to the point of discomfort because they feel that have lack of control over their eating habits. These episodes of binge eating are commonly followed with feelings of guilt, depression, and embarrassment. The main complication

Although social media, and celebrities have a huge impact on girl’s self image, there are also many other aspects that can affect why an eating disorder begins: low self esteem, feelings of lack of control in life, depression, anxiety, anger, stress, loneliness, troubled personal relationships, difficulty expressing emotions and feelings, being teased based on weight, history of physical or sexual abuse, and of course cultural pressures that glorify “thinness” or “perfect bodies.” It could also be a genetic issue, certain people may have genes that increase their risk of having an eating disorder.

Eating Disorders affect 5-10 million Americans, and thousands of people die each year from their complications. Although some groups are at a greater risk than others, eating disorders occur in people of all ages, races, and socioeconomic backgrounds. We do not know what causes eating disorders, but many factors have been identified that may play a role (Smolin and Mary Grosvenor, 40).

Ultimately, though, these behaviors will damage a person’s physical and emotional health, self- esteem and sense of competence and control (Factors That May Contribute to Eating Disorders 1). A Glamour magazine survey showed that sixty-one percent of respondents felt ashamed of their hips, sixty-four percent felt embarrassed by their stomachs, while seventy-two percent were ashamed of their thighs (Media Influence 1). A recent study in the United States showed that in reality only twenty-five percent of women are overweight, but seventy-five percent of the women in the United States consider themselves overweight when they are not. Four out of five women that live in the United States feel unhappy with their appearance (Media Influence 1). Adolescent girls have taken the fear of being overweight to the extreme, in which they are more terrified of gaining weight then losing their parents or even being diagnosed with cancer. Roughly one have of the girls in the fourth grade are on diets, and more than half of nine and ten year old girls admitted that they felt better about themselves when dieting (Media Influence 1). Children are taught early-on by society that what they should look like and even dress like matters. “It is reasonable to say that exposure could be a factor in the development of eating disorders,” Palmer continued. “But has a causal link been established? No (Pearson, Catherine 2).” Yes magazines are made for the people to look