Anorexia Essay -- essays research papers fc

It seems today that eating disorders are on the rise. While this may be true, the numbers may appear to grow only because more cases are being brought out into the open. The purpose of this paper is to discuss eating disorders and prove the these disease, specifically Anorexia Nervosa, continue to plague of women due to psychological and environmental factors along with pressure from the media. The term â€Å"Anorexia Nervosa† is misleading. It means â€Å"loss of appetite due to nerves.† But people with anorexia don’t actually lose their appetite until the late stages of their starvation. Until, they do feel hungry, but they just won’t eat. People affected by anorexia have an extreme fear of gaining weight. In addition to drastic dieting, they may resort to vomiting and the use of laxatives and diuretics to lose weight. Statistics show that many teens and young adults suffer from anorexia nervosa. Without treatment, anorexia nervosa can cause serious heal th problems--even death! The sooner treatment begins the better the chances for a full recovery. The person with another anorexia is a model child. He/She is well behaved, eager to please, and a good student who gets along well with her peers. She rarely admits that anything is wrong or that anything is wrong or that she/he extra helps. Behind the mask is an insecure, self-critical perfectionist who feels unworthy of any praises she receives. A person who has anorexia is also very concerned about whether other people like her. Occasionally, she feels that there’s something wrong with her- that she’s bad or that her thoughts are disgusting. (PennSAHIC) One interpretation of an eating disorder is termed as a relationship between the person and food the appears abnormal. Anorexia Nervosa is one of the most prevalent eating disorder decease. The definition of Anorexia, Dr. Barton J. Blinder gives an interpretation similar to this: Anorexia is an all-encompassing pursuit of thinness, occurring most often in adolescents and young adult woman. This is accomplished by avoidance of eating by any means possible. The person affected by Anorexia has an absolutely terrifying fear of becoming obese. In short, â€Å"food becomes the enemy;† one researcher described Anorexia as â€Å"weight phobia.† (noah.cuny.edu/wellconn/eatdisorders.html) Some experts believe that a fear of growing up is the root of the problem. Other experts see the d... ...l keep their body into shape. Parents do not like to see children being teased because of their weight so they try to keep them fit. Sometime the stress from the parents and/or if there is any physical or sexual abuse in the family, the child in this situation may lead to an eating disorder to have a way to control something in their life. In conclusion, Anorexia Nervosa greatly affects all that are touched by it. Close family members and friends go through fighting battle with the person helping to serve this deathful battle. The information in this paper is just touching briefly on what can happen to someone with this disease called Anorexia. It is important that people are aware of these problems, know how to spot eating disorders, and help someone else or themselves overcome something like Anorexia. Works Cited: Matthews, John R. Eating Disorders. New York: Facts on file Inc. 1990 http://noah.cuny.edu/wellconn/eatdisorder.html Self-Help & Psychology Magazine- written by Lee H offman, Office of Scientific Inf., NIH Publication No. 94-3477, 1993. http://www.cybertowers.com/selfhelp/article/eating/nih/anorexia.html PennSAHIC booklet by Channing L. Bete Co., Inc. 1996 edition.