Eating Disorders Issues - Term Paper Example

Those who experience it are exposed to fatigue, dramatic personality changes, social withdrawal, apathy, and extreme preoccupation with shape, weight, and food. Medical complications of eating disorders include lowered levels of hormones, tooth decay, loss of bone density while extreme consequences include heart problems and death. Eating disorders are very common in women as compared to men (Bulik 2005). Studies show that around 10% of eating disorder cases are related to men but this may be an underestimation since diagnosing eating disorders in men is not common because they rarely seek help (American Psychiatric Association 1994).

Eating disorders can be categorized into Bulimia Nervosa, Anorexia Nervosa, and Atypical eating disorders.The development of Anorexia nervosa occurs during adolescence and can continue to adulthood if not treated. Symptoms of anorexia include extreme weight loss as compared to recommended weight, an intense fear of being fat despite being underweight, viewing your body as being larger than reality (negative body evaluation), amenorrhoea for women who have begun menstruating, excessive exercise as one eats little, binge eating behaviors, and serious complications such as death (Hermans et al. 1998).Bulimia nervosa is characterized by recurrent binge-eating episodes (consumption of a larger amount of food as compared to what people can eat in a similar circumstance), one may feel a loss of control over eating during a binge, recurrent behavior which is regarded as inappropriate in the move to compensate for the episodes of eating such as self-induced vomiting and excessive exercises, frequent compensatory behavior and binge eating, and the body shape and weight having an excessive influence on self-evaluation (Gleaves et al. 2000).An atypical eating disorder is a category describing disorders that do not fit either in anorexia nervosa or bulimia nervosa.

For every person diagnosed with bulimia nervosa or anorexia nervosa, an estimate of 2-3 people in this category (Kaye et al. 2005).

Causes of eating disorders Causes of eating disorders can be classified as socio-cultural contributors, familial influences and individual risk factors. Socio-cultural contributors Eating disorders are not uniform at all times in all cultures. Slimness which is one of the core features of eating disorders is much concentrated in those cultures where there is food in abundance. Thus, a culture with calorific abundance is one of the causes of eating disorders. Media is also contributes much to eating disorders through their images of motivation of physiques and forcing people in attempts to achieve slimness.

This is portrayed through naturally thin models and celebrities. Widespread exposure of media on such cases has caused eating disorders in such a way that it is difficult to explain the reason for not eating disordered. The socio-cultural influence in the context of eating disorders can be based on idealisation of thinness. It may channel the dissatisfaction and distress in women towards body size and shape focus (Stice 2001). Familial influences Family dynamics are the source of development and maintaining eating disorders.

Eating disordered families tend to be hostile and negating with the emotional needs of an eating disorder patient. There are increased risks of eating disorder development for adolescents who perceive parental caring, parental expectation and family communication as low and also for those who report physical and sexual abuse (Haworth-Hoeppner 2000). Mothers with daughters experiencing eating disorders influence the pathology of their daughters as they think tha their daughters should lose weight to be attractive as other girls (Ogden &Steward 2000).

Thus, Shoebridge & Gowers (2000) argued that if therapy is to be effective, then it is important to treat the entire family. Individual risk factors There are various factors that are individual specific that lead to development of eating disorders. These factors such as deficits in self-esteem and personality traits reside in an individual while fall between the individual and environment such as personal experiences. Abuses undermine the identity as well as inducing intolerable emotions.

One of the easiest desperate attempts to construct a sense of self and to regulate negative effects when one lacks internal structures is through eating disorders. In addition, women who lack constructive ways in addressing personal crises use eating disorders as coping mechanisms (Ball & Lee 2000). Raffi (2000) argues that combination of stressful events in life as well as effective deficiencies which include depressed mood, low self-esteem, irritability, and generalised anxiety can be pathogenic for bulimia nervosa.

Among the many varieties of disorders that low self-esteem conduces, eating disorder is one of them. As self-esteem reflects how others react with individuals a perceived rejection may lead to low self-esteem as well as maladaptive behaviours such as eating disorders. Negative feelings and negative effects about self will result to body dissatisfaction which is channelled in eating disorders. Eating disorders are attributed to cognitive aberrations such as inaccurate judgements, obsessive thoughts, and rigid patterns of thinking.

Thus, presence of these features shows that cognitive pathology may lead to eating disorders. Use of one’s weight and schematic for weight on the grounds of self evaluation are key aspects of anorexia and bulimia nervosa and greatly contribute to existence of eating disorders (VanderHam et al. 1997). Hewitt (1995) argued that perfectionism can be a main contributor of disorders in eating through making shortcomings that are normal to be more traumatic or making a normal body as a indication of imperfection.

Biological influences As eating disorders generally depend on appetite such as uncontrollable appetite in case of bulimia nervosa and lack of appetite in anorexia nervosa, biological factors are also major causes of eating disorders.