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What is the most deadly psychological disorder today? If you guessed an eating disorder, then you are right. According to WebMD, eating disorders are diseases that cause a person to adopt destructive eating habits. So, does this make WebMD just a great resource, or is this actually true, and is an eating disorder actually a dangerous illness? Most sufferers of an eating disorder are often times mocked regarding their problem, and they are not taken seriously. People ought to not misinterpret or disbelieve sufferers of an eating disorder because it is, in fact, a very severe illness. There are, however, minor cases of eating disorders but there are far too some deaths related to them, therefore we must take this issue very severely and approach it with care. Why are eating disorders the greatest killers amid the a heap of dissimilar psychological disorders? This is because of the media, as well as the disorder’s dramatic and deadly affects on the body. Today, media is in our lives no matter where we go. From television, radio, and the news, to magazines, newspapers, and the internet, media plays a big role in the disseminating ideas, norms, and styles to people. Media spreads data actually quickly to millions of people. Media is around people no matter where they turn, and they face it on a daily basis in galore form. So, how is media affiliated to eating disorders? This question, and some other questions, will be answered after we get a better understanding of what an eating disorder is, it is characteristics, statistics, and ways to prevent and treat it. I will, however, focus only on anorexia and bulimia because they are more affected by the media than overeating disorders are. People with eating disorders obsess when it comes to their intake of food, and they spend a lot of time thinking in regards to their weight and body image. Their body is seriously affected both in an emotional manner and physically. People with an eating disorder may suffer from a number of dissimilar symptoms, and not every one gets the same sensations or changes as they vary from person to individual. According to the Help Guide-Mental Health Issues, even though anorexia is the most revealed eating disorder in the media, bulimia is the most prevalent eating disorder. A person suffering from anorexia sees themselves as fat when they are, in fact, skinny and underweight. Their weight does not match their height, action level or age. They get bad memory, feel depressed, have a fear of benefitting weight, feel light headed, and often faint. Women with anorexia may have troubles with their menstrual cycle such as missed or late periods, as well as trouble getting pregnant. Woman who are pregnant have a higher risk of a miscarriage and a higher peril to need to deliver their baby through C-section. People suffering from anorexia may also have muscle and joint problems, kidney stones, kidney failure, anemia, bloating, constipation, low levels of potassium, magnesium, and sodium in their bodies, low blood pressure, slow heart rate, and heart failure. Some physical signs that may be seen on a person suffering from anorexia are arid or yellow skin, brittle nails, more hair growth on their body, and thin and brittle hair. A person with anorexia may also get cold easily, bruise easily, and feel down a lot. A person suffering from bulimia may get the same effects as a person suffering from anorexia since both disorders implicate the loss of major and rapid weight, which leads to very insalubrious changes in the body. Symptoms amid anorexia and bulimia sufferers differ in the way that sufferers of bulimia would eat a lot of feed in a short amount of time and then strength themselves to throw up, when persons with anorexia just don’t want to eat altogether. People with bulimia likewise misuse laxatives and go on rigorous diets of fasting and stringent exercising. Sufferers from eating disorders in general are affected emotionally, psychologically, behaviorally, and socially. Emotional and psychological changes include increased anxiety, depression, suicidal thoughts, guilt, and low self esteem. Some changes in conduct of a person suffering from an eating disorder include dieting, ordinary visits to the bathroom after eating, a modify in fashion, and perpetually checking their weight. Some social changes of a person suffering from an eating disorder may include isolation, being anti-social, avoiding social gatherings where feed is involved, and a loss of interest for hobbies. Other physical signs of eating disorders in usual include edema, a reduction in metabolism, sore throats, stomach problems, heartburn, and hypoglycemia; which leads to irrational thinking, shaking, confusion, irritability, and comas. Eating disorders have a huge affect on society on a little and on a huge scale; meaning both persons and society as a whole dedicate significant parts of their lives to the struggles of dealing with eating disorders. A lot of cash and time go into the difficulties of dealing with an eating disorder, as well as into the measures taken in order to treat and prevent them. Eating disorders are very mutual amongst celebrities, primarily because their profession puts pressure on them to be skinny. The majority of celebrities that we see in the media are all skinny, and most of them are anorexic or bulimic. The fans of these celebrities look at the bodies of their idols and they want to be like them. The problem with this is that anorexic and skinny celebrities do not make good role models for their fans because their skinny figures are not a healthful look to follow. Famous persons believe that in order to be successful they will have to be skinny. This is not true. Celebrities expose their looks and body effigy to the media where fans may see them and get the wrong idea that their idol’s looks are worthy of acceptance or satisfactory when their idols are only attempting to lose weight for their own “success”. In a weight article, Monica Seles stated that “Women in society have much tougher pressure to be thin.” It is like a cycle; celebrities are skinny in order to impress their fans and companies. They send their fans the wrong idea, therefore making their fans lose weight. In the end, everyone has the idea that they must be thin and they ought to lose weight, thus, being skinny becomes the norm. According to the article “Eating Disorders and Body Image in the Media” by Heather Mudgett, media may be very hypocritical because while the media shares news regarding celebrities dying from eating disorders, it also holds images of underweight celebrities modeled as if everyone will have to look like them. We might likewise see an article when it comes to a person dying from an eating disorder in a magazine, and on the next page we might see an underweight model, modeling a popular product. The underweight images of humans in the media give buyers the defective idea that being skinny is ok and that there is not one thing defective with it, when, in fact, being that skinny may lead to a person’s own death. Consumers spend so much cash on merchandise and services that will help them lose weight, such as weight loss drinks, nutrition bars, pills, laxatives, weight loss videos, and they even take weight loss classes. People also misuse drugs and liquids in order to strength themselves to lose weight, and this may be very stressing to the body. Any time that we do something versus our body’s natural functions, we hurt our body and put ourselves at great risk to further health difficultnesses in the future. So numerous celebrities suffer and have passed away from eating disorders. Singer Karen Carpenter was engaged in a struggle with anorexia and bulimia and after she went to treatment for years, everyone thought that she had recovered and was doing better. After that, she was found dead on the bathroom floor in her parent’s house. She had a heart attack and it was said that the result of it was because she had mistreated the drug Ipecac for years. Ipecac is a liquid that is used to induce vomiting, and it is often times mistreated by anorexics and bulimics. According to the South Carolina Department of Health, in regards to seven million American women and one million American men have an eating disorder. About one in each two hundred women in America has anorexia, and in regards to two or three out of one hundred women have bulimia. About half of Americans know at least one person who has an eating disorder. According to the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders, in regards to 5% to 10% of persons diagnosed with anorexia will die within 10 years of having the disease, in regards to 18% to 20% of persons will be dead after having the impairment of normal physiological function for 20 years and only 30% to 40% of humans will recover from it. It is very scary fact that the rate of mortality for persons with anorexia is twelve times higher than the rate of death of all of the causes of death for females from 15 to 24 years old. (South Carolina Department of Health). Nearly 20% of the persons who have anorexia will die prematurely from health troubles and heart difficultnesses due to their eating disorder. About 95% of persons with an eating disorder are amidst the ages of 12 and 25, in regards to 50% of females amidst the ages of 11 and 13 see themselves as overweight, and around 80% of 13 year old’s have, at a good deal of point, tried to lose weight. It is a very sad fact that over 80% of females who have made an effort to go get treatment for their eating disorder, have not received the full treatment that they need in order to to a complete degree recover. This ofttimes leads to the disorder reoccurring and to the persons who requires medical care hurting their health even more. Obviously, eating disorders are actually severe and they ought to be treated as soon as possible. Since eating disorders are such essential difficultnesses facing society today, researchers have applied psychological theories to undertake to solve these troubles including group therapy, medical treatment, and nutritional counseling. Eating disorders are treatable, and a person who has an eating disorder does have a prospect of getting better, however, if the media proceeds to idolize skinny celebrities and condone their exceedingly thin size, it will proceed to help persons in attempting to lose weight. Having an eating disorder is like a in truth bad habit that needs to be stopped. A lot of people do not have the capacity to stop this bad habit on their own, therefore they need aid from professional doctors and even family. There are various dissimilar methods used to treat an eating disorder. Since an eating disorder affects people both physically and psychologically, the treatment for an eating disorder has to satisfy both the physical and psychological aspect of the disorder. Medicine alone wont aid a patient get better. In order to get positive long term effects from the treatment, a patient has to receive a mix of medical and psychological aid for their disorder. Some therapies that psychologists use to determine the problem and treatment of an eating disorder are cognitive behavioral therapy, interpersonal therapy, rational emotive therapy, and psychoanalytic psychotherapy. Cognitive behavioral therapy allows psychologists to see the patient’s thought process, interpersonal therapy involves dealing with difficult relationships with others, rational emotive therapy involves studying a patient’s unhelpful beliefs, and psychoanalytic psychotherapy involves looking at a person’s past experiences. All of this selective information may help a psychologist find the problem, and come up with the solution to the problem. Group therapy is a helpful part of treatment that allows sufferers of the similar eating disorders get together to talk about their problem. Groups are competent to talk about coping strategies, ask and answer questions, and talk when it comes to ways to change their behavior. Medical treatment is necessary in order to make sure that the patient receives full treatment. Drugs such as anti-depressants may be prescribed by an experienced doctor who knows your condition in order to support treat your illness. Nutritional counseling is another effective and good way to support treat eating disorders. Dieticians and nutritionists may support persons who requires medical care perceive what a well-balanced diet is and what foods they ought to eat on a each and everyday basis. Nutritional counseling may also help people who are in need of medical care face their fears when it comes to feed and get over their fears of being afraid to eat. A lot of humans are confused regarding what “normal eating” is so they need nutritional counseling to support them get back on track. Not that a heap of persons who suffer from an eating disorder go to get treated for it. According to the South Carolina Department of Health , only 1 out of 10 persons who suffer from an eating disorder go to get treatment. The cost of treatment for an outpatient is very expensive. Costs for outpatient treatment may be over $100,000. In the US, the cost of treatment for an eating disorder per day is anyplace from $500 to $2,000. On average, a person in inpatient treatment has to remunerate $30,000 a month. People with eating disorders need approximately 3-6 months of inpatient care in order to recover. The cost of treatment for an eating disorder is ridiculously high, and the high costs might be a reason that persons do not go to get treated. It is very hard for most families to compensate for the treatment of their illness, exceptionally when insurance companies don’t ordinarily cover eating disorder costs. Another way to help reduce the number of persons with eating disorders is to educate persons when it comes to the dangers of eating disorders through media. The media is a good tool to help educate persons on the dangers of eating disorders, but it is likewise a tool that hurts people by condoning the appearances of skinny people who suffer from such disorders. Another way that eating disorders may be treated and minimizes is through the “Doll Experiment”. People were shown that if a humane being had the same traits as a Barbie doll, the body would not be competent to hold itself because of it is awkward shape and structure. This is a good way to show persons that a Barbie doll isn’t inevitably what women today will have to aim towards looking like. In the same way, the celebrities we see on TV are not humans who we will have to undertake to look like either. I believe that as long as the media proceeds to idolize thin celebrities, the effects of education in regards to the dangers of eating disorders through the media will not be effective. For each step that they take forward to solve the problem, they take two steps back by continuing to idolize thin celebrities. It is not a question of what effects have a dandier likelihood of causing an eating disorder, but it is a fact that media does bestow to humans formulating and sustaining eating disorders. There are other causes of eating disorders, such as interpersonal or biological factors, but if the problem of media influencing eating disorders may be changed, there will be less cases of eating disorders. We have to take one step at a time in order to solve this very severe problem of eating disorders, and a outstanding place to get started is to modify the fact that media influences eating disorders. There is not one cause of eating disorders, but media is a big influence to them since media reaches so numerous people. Personally, I think that group therapy very helpful in the treatment routine of an eating disorder. Victims of an eating disorder are capable to ask questions and receive answers in order to better perceive their situation. This is very helpful and it might make the victims of eating disorders feel more comfortable knowing that there are other people out there who are going through the same thing. Unfortunately, humans are put under so much pressure to be thin by observing skinny celebrities all over the media be idolized. If they are being idolized does that means that they are good role models and their behavings will have to be followed? No, most of the time, celebrities are not good role models. I believe that early childhood education is very necessary because I think that eating disorders start out at an early age when children are naive and susceptible to being changed by others. Educating young kids in regards to the media and how to criticize media is a very important step to reducing the number of persons with eating disorders. Since media has such a huge influence on eating disorders, children must be competent to efficaciously criticize it and not fall victim to it is schemes. Personally, I don’t think that the media will ever be an effective resource for humans to learn the truth and to learn with regards to eating disorders. The media spreads a lot of untrue info and people tend to misinterpret the messages they listen on TV. Companies try to trade us merchandise that will reduce our weight and make ourselves look “beautiful” by spending millions of dollars on advertisements. Consumers spend a lot of cash and time attempting to lose weight and buying these merchandise that are not what the body needs. I believe that our bodies know what they need and ever one’s body is different. Everyone has a dissimilar metaboli process and shape, and we have to learn how to love ourselves for who we are. We need to instruct children at a young age that what they say on TV is not what it is cracked up to be and that they need to have self confidence, because if they don’t fabricate an effigy for themselves, the media will do it for them. |
Tags: anorexia, bulimia, eating disorders, health, media, skinny