Having a book written by a well known author about eating disorders could potentially be an indicator that this mental illness is becoming more well known and accepted into society. The book Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson demonstrates, in fiction, possible side effects of severe eating disorders. The main character, Lia, has no friends left because Anorexia and purging has consumed her life, her best friend recently died due to a ruptured esophagus due to complications brought on by Bulimia. Lia suffers from extreme depression because of her eating disorder and is suicidal. Her family suffers as well, Lia’s little step-sister found her in the bathroom after a suicide attempt. Though it is fiction it demonstrates the possible effects that even a few years of an eating disorder is destructive. Right now there are studies being done researching the effects of bulimia on the esophagus. A …show more content…
A disease, in reference to human illnesses, is essentially an illness that plagues a person and something that a person can’t perhaps walk away from or potentially be cured of (“Diseases”, “Medical Dictionary”). A person suffering from an eating disorder may never get better, they may struggle for the rest of their life resisting to purge or to eat a single french fry without being on the verge of a mental breakdown. They may get esophageal cancer, as stated previously, due to Bulimia or osteopenia/osteoporosis due to Anorexia. Stephan L. Zipfel and others concocted a longitudinal case study of the long-term effects of Anorexia. Fourteen out of the original 84 patients (16.7%) died 21 years after the start of the study, but 50.6% made a full-recovery (Zipfel). Of the patients that died, all were due to complications because of Anorexia and all were predicted to have a “poor-outcome” (Zipfel). Twenty-one years later and some still were losing their life, in multiple ways, to this