Thin Documentary Essay

“Thin” is a documentary film that explores the lives of several women who are undergoing treatment for eating disorders at the Renfrew Center in Coconut Creek, Florida. The film provides an in-depth look at the complexities of these illnesses, including the underlying causes, the physical and emotional toll they take on the body, and the obstacles to recovery. In this paper, we will examine the factors that contributed to the patients' illnesses and the challenges they faced in trying to recover.

There were many factors that contributed to the maintenance and development of the eating disorders. The patients in the film all come from different backgrounds, but they share a common struggle with body image and societal pressure to

The film highlighted the physical and emotional toll that eating disorders take on the body. The patients are shown engaging in self-harm, such as cutting, and talking about their suicidal thoughts. They also talk about the physical symptoms they experience, such as fatigue, dizziness, and hair loss. Most of them didn’t get better during the film but following up more they all relapsed in one way or another and then some made a full recovery and unfortunately one had passed away. It was just a vicious cycle and hard to overcome for patients. The reason they had an eating disorder never goes away. Trying to mentally reframe and address what the issue within themselves is very challenging for them and really for anybody to do. Plus most of them had been dealing with it for such a long time it just became their way of life and that’s what they were used to. Despite the severity of the illness, recovery from an eating disorder is possible. However, the film also shows the numerous obstacles to recovery, including the complex nature of the illness, the lack of understanding and support from others, and the high relapse rate. The patients in the film all struggle with the process of recovery, which can be slow and uncertain. They face numerous setbacks and challenges, including their own resistance to

I’m surprised in general how hard it is to pull yourself out of that vicious cycle. How most of them didn’t get better and continued to regress after making some improvement. Most of them wanted to leave Renfrew but couldn’t do what needed to be done to get out of there. I understand for some or most people that’s not the kind of motivation that will work but there were reasons for them to get out of there. They were all young women who had their whole lives ahead of them and things to look forward to. One had kids to take care of, the others had family to return to, and other things. This film made me very sad and made me take eating disorders more seriously. I did not realize how hard it was to break away and also what came with eating disorders. Wanting to commit suicide and end their lives because of dealing with this plus other things to me was a shock. This film helped put it into perspective to me and helped me realize it is something that needs to be addressed