Eating Disorders - Research Paper Example

Eating disorder may affect both male and female (NIMH, 2011). The research, therefore, is about the factors influencing the eating disorders in both men and women in the society. Types of Disorders Eating disorders are common and treatable illnesses. They always go hand in hand with substance abuse, depression, or disorders of anxiety. If these symptoms of the eating disorders are not properly treated, they can pose a threat to life and, therefore, people with eating disorders need to seek medical attention or they are likely to die earlier than other individuals of the same age.

There are different types such disorders: bulimia nervosa, binge-eating disorder, and anorexia nervosa. When people have anorexia nervosa, they think they are overweight when in truth they are clearly underweight. Weight control and eating food will always be an obsession. People with anorexia are always seen weighing themselves frequently, measuring food carefully, and eating extremely small portions of food. People with this illness always engage in excessive exercising, inducing vomiting, and misuses of laxatives or enemas.

People with anorexia nervosa are characterized by extreme thinness, intense fear of weight gain, distorted body image, low self-esteem, irregular menstruations (or lack of them) in young girls, and eating according to an extremely restricted diet. Anorexic individuals recover when treated properly. However, there are some who will always have relapses and some who have a chronic illness, so their health deteriorates overtime (NIMH, 2011). Bulimia nervosa is another example of eating disorder.

An ill person regularly eats large quantities of food and is not able to control these episodes. The illness is often accompanied by such behaviors as self-induced vomiting, overeating, an excessive use of laxatives, fasting, extreme exercises, or a combination of these behaviors. Bulimic individuals are usually healthy and have normal weight, but they desperately want to lose weight and are extremely unhappy about their body size and shape. They always perform these behaviors secretly, because they are shameful acts accompanied by feelings of disgust.

The binge-eating has the following characteristics: sore throat that is inflamed, salivary glands that are swollen in the jaw area and neck, sensitive teeth that are decaying due to exposure to stomach acid, gastrointestinal problems, severe dehydration due to purging fluids, and electrolyte imbalance that may lead to a heart attack. The binge eating always occurs from several times a day to many times a week (NIMH, 2011). The final example of an eating disorder is the binge-eating disorder. An ill person is not able to control his or her eating habits.

A person with the binge-eating disorder is often overweight or obese. Such a person is at a higher risk of developing cardiovascular problems and high blood pressure problems. This may result to a heart attack. These people always feel guilt, shame, and stress about their habits, which results in more binge-eating (NIMH, 2011). Causes of Eating Disorders Eating disorders are termed as illnesses, because they destroy processes in an individual and display characteristic symptoms. Eating disorders are a result of a combination of psychological, genetic, and sociological factors.

As for genetic factors, many researchers believe that, for a person to