Dying To Be Thin Film Analysis

Prior to this class I did not know the severity of just how deadly eating disorders were. Growing up you heard about eating disorders and there may have been a few girls in high school that you knew were suffering from an eating disorder but that was the extent of what you knew. The fact that 8 million people are affected by an eating disorder is a staggering number that should alarm parents and peers alone. But although it affects this many people and has the highest mortality rate among psychiatric disorders it is rarely talked about until it hits close to home. As clinicians, this is a huge epidemic that we need to be well versed in especially since the stakes are so high. The PBS special “Dying to be Thin” is a documentary that I believe every child should watch. I know that predominantly that 9:1 females have some form of an eating disorder for everyone 1 male that does. But I think it is extremely important for both males and females to know the warning signs of an ED. One of

She said that prior to this documentary being filmed that she used to weight 50 lbs. less than she currently does. When I was watching, her I was trying to imagine what she could have possibly looked like 50lbs lighter because she was still extremely skinny. She discussed the hard times that she had while training to be a ballerina and how she now suffered from lifelong consequences of starving herself and avoiding foods that contained calcium which as now led her to get tested for Osteoporosis. What is the saddest part of an ED for me to grasp is that a young girl may be able to overcome an ED but can potentially suffer the lifelong effects of what she did to her body years prior. This is an obstacle that we as clinicians need to acknowledge because the road to recovery is long but it is also a lifelong process that our clients need to be made aware