A childhood friend of mine, I will refer to in this paper as Mike, has struggled with an eating disorder most of his life. Mike weighed 150 pound by the time he was 12 years old. He was only five foot three inches tall. When taken to the doctor for his physical he was told he needed to restrict his diet. According to Peeke (2012), he needed to lose 25 pounds to be at his ideal weight.
This study is going to explore Bulimia Nervosa with accordance to a case study on Tanya’s story, within this study we are going to look at the background of Bulimia Nervosa, the psychological theories and explanations, followed by treatments for this disorder. Bulimia Nervosa is defined as an eating disorder that is a form on psychopathology. ‘Psychopathology is maladaptive behaviours that create distress to individuals which is brought by a psychological disorder’- Nolen Hoekesma 2004. The vulnerability stress model- Nolen Hoeksema 2004 states there are three causes for Bulimia Nervosa; biological, social and psychological. However, there is four psychological theories that administer treatments; Psychodynamic Theories, Behavioural Theories,
Understanding Anorexia is More than a Science In a time when the United States is fraught with social justice issues, frenzy over the impending presidential election, and dramatic, yet often trivial headlines attracting our attention the daily musings of our favorite celebrities, serious issues can easily be swept under the proverbial rug of America’s consciousness. Anorexia is one of those issues that doesn’t always receive the attention it deserves. In her essay on the topic, Katy Waldman, a correspondent for Slate Magazine shares her own experiences with anorexia as well as findings from medical professionals in an effort to dispel commonly held misconceptions surrounding the disorder as well as raise awareness for its presence in society.
Out of all the challenges in my life, I think bulimia nervosa has stuck out the most with me. That was a really tough time in my life, everything tasted great but I knew I would eventually get rid of it. It’s like life was mocking me and I probably deserved it.
Eating disorders are classified as a range of psychological disorders that are abnormal. There are many types of eating disorders that affect people and their families. Society is lead to believe that women are the only ones affected by eating disorders, but in reality, men are affected as well. Eating disorders are about physical problems, as well as,
This targets the unhealthy eating behaviors of anorexia and bulimia and the unrealistic, negative thoughts that fuel them. One of the main goals is for you to become more self-aware of how you use food to deal with emotions. The therapist will help you recognize your emotional triggers and learn how to avoid or combat them. Cognitive-behavioral therapy for eating disorders also involves education about nutrition, healthy weight management, and relaxation techniques (Eating Disorder Treatment and Recovery). Using these methods help recover or treat this disorder and also learning and establishing healthy eating methods help anorexia nervosa.
At first it will be hard to accept the need of help because bulimia is often something that bulimics want to keep hidden. Bulimics secretly live the nightmares of overeating consuming up to 3,500 calories per meal, feeling guilt and having to throw up, but furthermore submit to an excessive routine of exercises. Bulimics are afraid of reveling what happens to them since they believe that everyone will laugh at them. They often fail to find support on time and are collapsed with bulimia for a severely long time. As evaluated by psychological studies, bulimia and any other eating disorder attacks the brain directly degrading cognition and reasoning abilities causing long lasting mental fractures.
In 1994, a near Olympic gymnast named Christy Henrich died at the age of twenty-two from a severe case of anorexia (Pace). Her body underwent months of self-starvation and destruction, which eventually led to multiple organ failure (Pace). When Henrich passed away, she was only sixty-one pounds, an improvement to the previous forty-seven (Pace). Since then multiple research and case studies have been done to see if there is a link and if so how to stop it
1. An eating disorder is an illness where people develop irregular eating habits, such as obsessively counting calories, not eating at all, purging, and become obsessed with their body weight and image. Anorexia is the most known eating disorder. Those suffering from anorexia view themselves as overweight and hate their body even when the majority of them are severely underweight, they develop a fear of gaining weight and may become obsessed with their calorie intake or may stop eating food altogether. Another common disorder is bulimia, those who suffer from this illness also have a fear of gaining weight and are unhappy with how their body looks, they perform binge acts normally in secret of overeating and then feel shame or guilt and force
Anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder in which a person rejects the idea of attaining a healthy body weight. Anorexics have an excessive fear of gaining weight due to a distorted self-image which often leads them to diet and exercise excessively despite being thin or underweight (Staff). The DSM-5 states the diagnostic criteria of anorexia nervosa as being the following: 1) Restriction of energy intake relative to requirements leading to a significantly low body weight in the context of age, sex, developmental trajectory, and physical health; 2) Intense fear of gaining weight or becoming fat, even though underweight; 3) Disturbance in the way in which one's body weight or shape is experienced, undue influence of body weight or shape on self-evaluation, or denial of the seriousness of the current low body weight ("DSM-5 Diagnostic Criteria"). What are the causes and effects of anorexia?
Run by peers rather than professionals, support groups provide a safe environment to share experiences, advice, encouragement, and coping strategies. Residential treatment – Residential or hospital-based care may be required when there are severe physical or behavioral problems, such as a resistance to treatment, medical issues that require a doctor’s supervision, or continuing weight loss. Breaking the binge-and-purge cycle – The first phase of bulimia treatment focuses on stopping the vicious cycle of bingeing and purging and restoring normal eating patterns. You learn to monitor you’re eating habits, avoid situations that trigger binges, cope with stress in ways that don’t involve food, eat regularly to reduce food cravings, and fight the urge to purge.
Eating disorders is a subject that I have always had an interest in. Throughout my adolescent years, I have been around several people that suffer or have suffered from an eating disorder. This even led me to pursue a bachelor’s degree in psychology, so that in the future I can help people that have these issues. I am a big believer in self-confidence and self-acceptance, therefore I wish to positively influence those suffering from an eating disorder to have this confidence and be at peace with themselves. I specifically chose binge eating disorder (BED) because I feel as if it is an eating disorder that is often invalidated and people don’t consider it a real disorder.
Surrounded at the Bronx school lunch table every day, watching people left and right eating like they have never eaten before. I sit here watching them because what else should I do? Eat? I don’t think so, I sit here with the same moldy lunch that hasn’t been touched in weeks. The secret of my anorexia isn’t that hard to keep from people because no one even really notices me anymore after the way I treated them.
The practice of bulimia can cause both long and short term health effects. It can cause damage in almost every system in the body including the cardiovascular, digestive, excretory, skeletal, reproductive, and nervous system. Even from a couple of episodes short-term effects are prevalent with unhealthy weight gain or loss, broken blood vessels in the eyes, puffy or swollen cheeks and painful salivary glands, dehydration, constipation, diarrhea, abdominal bloating, cramps, fatigue, sleep problems and decreased self-esteem (Quick Care, 2015). Persisting to binge and purge, victims could be suffering from long term effects in all dimensions of health. Through becoming very isolated due to the disorder, and generally developing other issues such as serious self-loathing, depression and anxiety.
Do you know what eating disorder is? You probably don’t know a lot of people get it. I know I haven’t had an experience with it in the past. I want people to know they're not alone. I want to help people that have these problems and I want reader to help them out with the problem and them to know they’re not alone.
