Anorexia And Other Eating Disorders example essay topic

In society today the media showers us with pictures of beautiful women. Most of these women have a specific quality about them, they are all thin. We are falsely led to believe that in order to be considered beautiful we must be thin. We live in a society that has such social clich " es such as "you can never be too rich or too thin".

Ideas like these lead people to believe that the thinner they are the more desirable they will be. Those people who want to fit that social norm we see flashed across newspapers and television will do many things to achieve it, some will go too far. One of the ways that people will try and achieve what they feel is a social norm is through an eating disorder. Anorexia nervosa refers to a persistent refusal to eat which results in a body weight that is well below the expected levels. General characteristics of anorexia nervosa include a drive for extreme thinness and a fear of gaining weight. Anorexia nervosa involves an ongoing pattern of self-starvation and a pre-occupation with food and losing weight.

There is a loss of fifteen percent or more of body weight below what is expected. There is also a disturbance in the way in which one's body weight, size or shape is experienced. This is commonly seen when the person claims to "feel fat" even though they are thin. The individual may not even acknowledge that weight loss or restricted eating is a problem. Some of the symptoms are depression and an over concern with weight. Other signs include fasting and the use of laxatives.

Individuals with anorexia nervosa may alternate periods of binging and purging with periods of self-starvation. An individual with anorexia nervosa may become severely sick and even die. The disorder can cause the brain to shrink, lead to heart and lung problems, kidney and liver trouble, and anemia. Most anorexics stop menstruating and are at a high risk of developing osteoporosis.

There is no magic cure for anorexia and no single agent has emerged as the single best treatment. Some treatments that have been used to treat individuals with anorexia nervosa include nutritional counseling, hospitalization, cognitive-behavioral therapy and psychotherapy. In my opinion, anorexia is a disorder that has been brought on by societal norms and cultural pressures. Media images portray beautiful as synonymous with waif-like or extremely thin. Celebrities and models flaunt their perfect bodies in the public eye and allow the general population to see that thin is equivalent to beauty and success. Many young women latch on to this perception and strive to attain their goal of being just as "perfect" as their famous counterparts.

However, this theory is not only unhealthy, but also unrealistic. As women are somewhat brainwashed with these dangerous images, their self-esteem diminishes and leaves them with a poor self-image. A large number of young women today will say that they are either fat or they are unhappy with the way that their body looks. This is partly because they do not resemble that which society says is supposed to be gorgeous. Low self-image coupled with prolonged exposure to images causes many women to go to extremes in terms of what they will do to become thin. The desire to become thin overrides the need to eat.

What many women fail to take into consideration is that many of these supermodels and actresses were either born with the ability to stay thin or that they commit their lives, their money and their careers to looking that way. There are a few fortunate women in the "real world" that can eat what they want and still look like the models in magazines, but for the rest of the population, I feel that the ability to stay healthy (which includes staying physically fit, eating healthily and being emotionally sound) is far more crucial than looking like our favorite actor / actress. Anorexia and other eating disorders kill many people and destroy lives forever. Having the perfect body doesn't count for much if you are dead or if you can't live your life as a functional human being. With society's pressure on looking good, it is not alarming, but rather unfortunate, that so many individuals have their priorities skewed and that they are literally dying to be thin.