Beauty and the Beast Anorexia
It seemed to me that the older I got, the more obsessed people seemed about their bodies. Whether it was the diet soda boom of the 80's, or the fact everyone has always been unhappy with his or her natural bodies; it just took me a while to comprehend. It always seemed like there were diets here, diets there; these drugs can do this, or these herbs can do that... "Stop the insanity!" This paper is going to discuss anorexia nervosa, an alarming disease that is usually developed during puberty of both boys and girls. Like bulimia, in which the subject binges and then disposes of ingested food by purging or use of laxatives, those suffering anorexia nervosa have an obsession with the amount of fat on her body (although one of every ten suffering this disease are male, I will use the female pronoun since they are the majority). This results in the loss of appetite completely and dangerous weight loss. More than thirty years ago one of this century's major sex symbols sang, "Happy Birthday, Mr. President," on television. With her size fourteen to sixteen figure, it is doubtful that society's standards would approve Marilyn Monroe today. Back in those days men and
Banks, Tyra. (1998). Tyra's beauty: inside and out. New York. Harper Pernnial. women alike ate what tasted good or what the body needed and simply bought clothes that would hide any unwanted weight gain. Today the story is different. Psychologists that study the influence of television on children say that television is the most influential medium in our "visually orientated" society (Velette, 1988, p.3). With the influence of television and celebrity role models, children don't care that they see a variety of sizes outside of their home, what they care about are the majority of people shown on the television set, perfect. Teenagers have typically watched 15,000 hours of television in their lifetime (Valette, 1988, p.4), absorbing the opinions on the shows or the commercials burning into their retinas. The message transmitted: "To be successful, beautiful, popular, and loved you must be thin, you must be thin, you must be THIN." After a lifetime of hearing this message over and over and over again, children may not think there is any reason to be happy with what they are and feel thinness is the ultimate goal to be happy and accepted by others. As a result, some children may skip breakfast, eat a little for lunch, or even adopt some form of diet. This may only last for a week or so, but for others, the obsession of thinness is higher and the price they pay is frightening. This paper is going to discuss the cycles of anorexia nervosa. It will detail the symptoms, behavior, and clinical observations. It will describe the possible causes of anorexia nervosa through childhood growth and puberty, childhood eating and social behavior, and the maturation of children during puberty. Finally, I will discuss the treatment and results of treatment for anorexia nervosa. Recalling past experiences from anorectic patients is difficult because these patients already have an exaggerated perspective of themselves and are likely to exaggerate what they went through as children. Through the careful recollection of families, however, a more likely picture of a soon-to-be-anorectic child can be drawn. As a child, anorectics are described as tomboys that shared interests with her father such as sports and watching football. They are described as obedient children that never wanted to grow up (Crisp, 1980, p.48). Valette, Brett. (1988). A parent's guide to eating disorders. New York. Walker Anorexia nervosa is a frightening disease for the families and for society to deal with. As social animals, the signals sent out by the people around us and the media tell us that if we want to be happy, successful, or loved we need to be thin and beautiful. When we were children our mom would be talking on the phone to a friend, "I think Jennifer could date Mike easily if she just lost 15 pounds." Almost every female is envious of another and unhappy with the body that she is blessed to have. Being skinny has been pounded into our minds since the day we develop self-esteem by those depicted on television and the natural need to feel desired or accepted by others. When I was in high school I was always self-conscious about how others viewed my physical appearance. I would compare my body to that of other girls in the class. I went on varying diets, from eating healthier food to crash diets. It was a ridiculous mindset when I look back upon it. It wasn't until my last year of high school that I decided that I was happy with my appearance and did not need to be preoccupied by what others thought of me or
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Approximate Word count = 2362
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page double spaced)
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