Harmful Effects of Anorexia - Research Paper Example

Assignment Anorexia is a dangerous disorder related to one’s eating habits and occurs when one has a much decreased sense of appetite. This can be either harmful or not pose a risk to a person’s body depending on the nature and extent of the disorder. Anorexia is both an eating as well as a psychological disorder where a person stops eating after a point because of reasons like wanting to stay skinny or lose weight. Individuals force themselves to stop eating food or reduce the intake of their food to dangerously low levels in order to avoid putting on weight. An individual might psychologically think him or herself to be putting on weight and as a result, force the mind to stop thinking about eating due to pressure from society or in built pressure of looking thin and maintain a certain body type; an idea emanating from a low self esteem. Such forms are also known as anorexia mirabilis and anorexia nervosa. Anorexia nervosa, a type of the eating disorder affects the mental health of a person rather than anything else because it straight makes an impact on the self esteem and confidence levels of an individual. It is more common in young girls than boys, and especially in countries of America and Europe where high fashion and societal pressure is far more rampant as compared to other countries around the world. A person’s mind is affected rather than the kind of body image he or she has and the disorder is known to affect more people belonging to the upper and middle classes, where pressure to look and feel beautiful is much higher than the lower classes, where people cannot even afford any food to eat. People that suffer from the disorder tend to get obsessed with the idea of food and show a lot of symptoms indicating aversion to eating in general. They may act in a compulsive manner, avoiding food altogether or display conduct overdoing the control and regulation of their food intake. (Edwards, Roxanne) Anorexia nervosa may be characterized as when a person refuses to maintain his body weight of at least 85% of the expected weight that he should have according to his body mass index. Individuals tend to display a great sense of fear of putting on weight and literally have a phobia of ‘getting fatter’. They may also exhibit a much distorted image of what is a perfect body type to them and reduce their intake of food to an alarming extent in order to stay thin. Moreover, in many young girls, an irregular menstrual cycle or an absence of the same can be a characteristic of anorexia or even reduced appetite and eating. Many people suffering from anorexia eat in front of other people in order to not let their problem out in the open, but often vomit out their food, exhibiting signs of bulimia, or abuse themselves by taking laxatives to take out the food from their body. Extreme weight loss accompanied with fainting and an abnormal blood count is the first symptoms of the eating disorder and if parents see these signs in their children then they should be alarmed and take necessary recourse in order to counter the problem. (Laffey, Linda) There are societies where it is alright to be thin and anorexia as an eating disorder is not given much thought to because parents think it alright for their children to lose weight and look good in society, however this is not the way to deal with one’s body as it causes problems in adolescents. Losing weight by exercising while eating necessary healthy foods is a perfectly viable option for a young adult but in no society should suffering from an eating disorder be considered okay. Dry skin, dehydration, intolerance towards cold weather indicating a loss of iron in the body along with excessive exercising which may be understood by irregular heart rates are all causes of this eating disorder, a very harmful disorder that people should stay away from. The disorder has known to have affected a large number of men as well and both men and women tend to become greedy with the idea of having a perfect body – something that would get hindered by eating, according to their mindsets. If n individual gins to adopt a very high diet and lurk long the extreme lines of not eating they may even suffer from an extreme case of malnutrition later in life, making it very difficult to sustain their health. Anorexia also causes other problems in the body like disturbances in the heart rhythm and abnormalities in the process of digestion because the body soon becomes very used to not eating food. Moreover, some people also tend to suffer from a lack of iron in their body commonly known as anaemia. Loss of the bone density and hormonal balances are some other changes that the body of a person suffering from anorexia may undergo. Hormonal balances also lead to a change in mood and may even cause depression in a person. Most individuals suffering from anorexia remain in denial unless they are treated properly and carefully and are brought to admit to themselves that they have a problem that needs solving. Gathering information from near and dear ones that suffer from this perilous problem thus becomes very difficult because of the various changes that their bodies go through as well as the hormonal imbalances causing them to feel negative emotions and making it difficult for people to deal with them. Unless and until a person is able to admit to himself that he is suffering from anorexia, it is very tough to go ahead with the diagnosis and treatment because it is mostly a mental issue that needs sorting with. One must be able to admit to himself and then seek out a solution to the problem rather than being forced to change his mind about his body. The treatment is a long and painful process sometimes as it involves all the family members and close friends of the person suffering from the disorder. The only way to deal with the problem is to help the individual understand that he is not pressured from any member of the family to remain thin and he must undergo an intervention helping him understand that he has the support from all his family and friends to start getting better. Once an individual is assured the same, he can start taking medication to put on weight. The process of putting on weight again is tough and has to be done with immense care and caution because the body’s digestion process is very slow and is not used to taking in food all of a sudden thus has to be dealt with carefully so as to not react negatively. This form of treatment in which the family is involved is also known as the Maudsley model of family therapy. Doctors need to constantly monitor those suffering with the problem and a day by day process of the amount of intake of food has to be closely regulated so that the person does not relapse into his previous condition. An individual may even deteriorate his progress and doctors and family members need to keep the same in check by ensuring food intake at proper regular intervals. The treatment thus is usually long term for those suffering from the disorder for a long time and is not easy because emotional support along with physical intake of food is required to put on weight and feel healthy. (Anorexia Symptoms and Effects) It's no secret that U.S society places high value on personal appearance. From cosmetic surgery to fad diets, the U.S public will do just about anything to be physically beautiful. (Lain) A lot of young girls today are under pressure to look beautiful and fit into skinny clothing – thus they think that their only option is to stop eating. Being thin is one thing, but many young girls in society are pressured to be even thinner what they already are, for example, size zero has been a fad for a long time now. Many clothing designers do not design high end fashion and clothes for women that are beyond a size two; this being another issue for young women to be skinnier. Many even strive to become models and thus starve themselves in order to fit into clothes and achieve praise in the business. In the process, they do not realize, but have become prey to eating disorders such as anorexia and all of this stems from the pressure thrust upon them from society and the desire that it has to look at material and aesthetic beauty. (Love Your Body) Beautiful people are treated differently, such is the society that we live in, driving young women to pressure of being skinny and thin and thus attract better social opportunities towards themselves. Young girls as young as those attending middle school start dieting hard and make it a routine to stop eating because their mothers force them into ‘looking beautiful’ and it is a known fact that many young girls in America, almost 70% are affected by their bodies, figures and their weight and are often told by their family members to look prettier or be thinner. (Renkl, Margaret) “While most girls don't develop these severe eating disorders, many are preoccupied with their weight from an astonishingly young age. As early as first grade, children express dieting and weight concerns and even engage in eating-disordered behaviors, according to a 1996 study by psychologists Ellen Flannery-Schroeder of Temple University and Joan Chrisler of Connecticut College.” (Gilbert, Stefanie) Anorexia is thus in such cases a very psychological disorder because it affects one’s nerves and mind and affects the mental health first, leading to a change in the bodily appearance. In many cases, young girls might not even lose weight by stopping their eating or taking on terrible eating habits because obviously their body fails to accept the manner in which they treat it, leading to worse conditions like fainting, dizziness and blacking out with a dip in the haemoglobin and blood sugar levels of the body. All this is very dangerous and should be put an end to. Family members must stop encouraging young women to become beautiful by making them believe that the same will happen by losing weight or wearing clothes that would only fit them if they were skinny enough. Reducing one’s appetite is not the solution, instead regular exercise is, and that should be advocated among growing girls rather than causing a reduction in their eating habits. Eating food is a privilege that not many get, and abused, it obviously tends to create a problem with one’s body. Moreover, anorexia affects one’s mental health thus people suffering from the same should be counselled properly in order to help them gain their sense of appetite back and pave the way for a healthy lifestyle. Anorexia is after all a battle between one’s mind and body and includes the desire to look good and be accepted in society and that is why society’s point of view regarding skinny women and men should change so as to not fall prey in young people’s minds and cause problems. Counselling to maintain a high level of self esteem and confidence among people is required in cases involving people suffering from this fatal problem and the same can be solved with care and affection as well as an assurance that one’s identity is not developed through their physical presence, body image or weight. (Effective Child Therapy|Home) I enjoyed working on this topic because anorexia is a very common problem that has affected a large portion of society, in fact I know of people close to me that have suffered from this very problem and how difficult it has been, not only for them, but also for their family members to cope with the entire issue and help them get better. Anorexia is like any other drug problem, if not even more sinister as it requires proper rehabilitation of the person and involves a painful process of admitting a problem to oneself and then trying to get better from there with medication that mainly involves better mental grip on the situation. Having read through a few case studies and having studied the problem and its causes and symptoms properly, I feel that I am equipped to handle someone suffering from the problem and would even like to help out at a counselling centre to help someone get through the issue. I am very happy to have chosen this topic to work on as it has opened my eyes to a problem that would sound frivolous to many, but is a dangerous issue, rampant in many societies around the world. With the growing contemporary world, the problem is not only there with young women but also men, especially in communities like the gay community where men take extra care of their bodies and the image that they portray to the world. For gay men, the problem may even be worse because of their sense of minority and low self esteem derived from the non acceptance of their sexuality. What worked well for me in this essay is that I was able to gather information regarding the subject very easily because it is readily available on the internet. Moreover, anorexia is a very common subject among many young people these days because of the need to stay thin and immense peer pressure in schools and colleges to be in fashion and thus stay thin. If I had more time to work on this project then I would try and host a survey among young adults between the ages of 15 and 24 asking them about their opinions on eating habits related to one’s personal self. I would then like to evaluate the survey and make a study about the number of people that need help and counselling in order to make them feel better about their body types in order to stop them from taking drastic steps related to eating lesser. For this paper, I would give myself at least 80 out of 100 because I feel I have carefully dissected the topic and analyzed all parts of the problem. I have begun with talking about what anorexia is and then talked about the causes and symptoms of the different kinds of anorexia. Moreover, I have also discussed the problems that anorexia has caused in contemporary society in young women and taken this angle to deal with, thus with more time I would have liked to take a few interviews of people that have suffered through this problem and emerged victorious by defeating it and staying strong in the process. My only shortfall with the paper was that I feel I could have done a much better job by presenting the pros and cons of the disorder and found out some more information regarding how it originated, which of course would have taken some more time and extensive research. Works Cited Edwards, Roxanne. "Anorexia Nervosa Symptoms, Signs, Statistics, Treatment, Causes, Diagnosis - MedicineNet." MedicineNet. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Dec. 2012. . Gilbert, Stefanie. "Why Young Women Are Prey to Eating Disorders." Washington Post. N.p., 13 Apr. 1999. Web. 3 Dec. 2012. . Laffey, Linda. "Anorexia Nervosa." Some Facts About Anorexia in Young Women... N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Dec. 2012. . Lain. "Societal Pressures Drive Young Women to Eating Disorders." Yahoo! Contributor Network. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Dec. 2012. . Renkl, Margaret. "The Scary Trend of Tweens with Anorexia." CNN. Cable News Network, n.d. Web. 02 Dec. 2012. . "Anorexia Symptoms and Effects." Anorexia. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Dec. 2012. . "Effective Child Therapy|Home." Effective Child Therapy|Home. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Dec. 2012. . "Love Your Body: Women and Eating Disorders." Love Your Body: Women and Eating Disorders. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Dec. 2012. . Read More