Anorexia and Bulimia

A detailed Summary of Anorexia and Bulimia

There was this girl at my high school last year that most guys, including myself, found to be very attractive. She was only a freshman, but that is beside the point. At the beginning of the year, and even before the year started when I saw her at an open house or something, I would think to myself "Wow!" every time she walked by. However, as the school year progressed, I noticed her getting very skinny. Not only that, but her face seemed to become more puffy. I thought this was somewhat strange. It definitely occurred to me that she might have been bulimic, but maybe she just ate right and exercised a lot. Obviously the word got around that she was, in fact, bulimic. This changed my entire opinion of her, as I'm sure it did for many other people as well. I no longer found her to be attractive, but actually ugly. That made me wonder why people would ever do that to themselves. There are much better ways for one to improve their looks than resorting to disgusting habits that are usually very damaging.

Every year there are millions of people that are involved with severe eating disorders. They can actually be life-threatening. Young women comprise most of the entire population affected by eating disorders. One reaso

Eating disorders can be treated the best when they are diagnosed early. However, even if an ill person is confronted or diagnosed, they might still deny the fact that they have a problem. Therefore, anorexic people may not receive attention until they are in a lot of danger. Bulimic people are often of normal weight and can hide their illness for many years. Eating disorders in males are usually overlooked because they are not very likely to occur in boys and men (Gordon 65). Because of these facts, getting a person with an eating disorder treated can be very tough.

Bulimia nervosa is a disorder where a person will eat lots of food, and then get rid of it right away by vomiting, or by taking many laxatives and diuretics as well (Landau 51-52). A combination of these methods is used many times also. Bulimics will "binge and purge" in secret from once or twice a week to several times a day. They will keep a normal or higher body weight, and because of this, they are often able to hide their problem from everyone for a long period of time. This includes the person's family, friends, and even their doctor. Strict dieting might also happen between episodes of binging and purging. Half of the people with anorexia will eventually become bulimic. Similar to anorexia, bulimia usually starts during adolescence. It happens most often with women, but it is sometimes found in men as well. Many people with bulimia live very shamefully of their habits, so they won't go get some help until their thirties or forties. Waiting so long makes their eating behavior a lot more difficult to change.

Although most anorexics are young women, it can also get to men and older women (Anorexia Nervosa 2). Anorexia and bulimia are usually found in white people, but they can affect other racial ethnic groups as well. People looking to have a profession where it is necessary to be thin are more prone to developing an eating disorder.

Most people that have eating disorders have similar personality traits, including a low self-esteem, feelings of helplessness, and a feeling of becoming fat. In eating disorders, it looks as though eating disorders develop as a way of handling stress and anxieties.

Anorexia nervosa is a disease where a person intentionally starves themselves, despite the fact that they will have terrible hunger pains most of the time. It usually begins in young people near the age of puberty. It involves major weight loss- about fifteen percent less than the person's normal body weight. A lot of people with this disorder are very skinny, but they are convinced that they are overweight (Binge-Purge 28). Many times they must be placed in the hospital so they aren't starved to death. About one percent of all adolescent girls have this eating disorder. It usually develops in women, but it sometimes occurs in men as well.

Scientists have examined how effective it is to combine psychotherapy with medica

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Approximate Word count = 1989
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Science