Eating Disorders Essay
While the free essays can give you inspiration for writing, they cannot be used 'as is' because they will not meet your assignment's requirements. If you are in a time crunch, then you need a custom written term paper on your subject (eating disorders)
Here you can hire an independent writer/researcher to custom write you an authentic essay to your specifications that will pass any plagiarism test (e.g. Turnitin). Waste no more time!
Eating Disorders are extremely prevalent in today's society. Anorexia
Nervosa and Bulimia Nervosa are characterized by gross disturbances in
eating behavior. These disorders typically begin in adolescence or
early adult life, affecting as many as "1 in 100 females between the
ages of 12 and 18 (Bronwell & Foreyt 312)."
Anorexia Nervosa is a complex disorder where the individaul refuses to
maintain body weight over a normal weight for age and height. Also
present, is an intense fer of gaining weight or becoming fat (Waller,
Quinton, & Watson 127). People of this disorder say they "feel fat"
even though they are obviously underweight or even emaciated. They
become preoccupied with their body size and are usually dissatisfied
with some feature of their physical apperarance (Bronwell & Foreyt
322). Weight loss is accomplished by a reduction of food intake. Self-
induced vomiting or use of laxatives or diuretics are also common
methods used to achieve weight loss. Many people with this disorder
minimize the severity of their illness and are uninterested in, or
resistant, to any type of therapy (Waller, Quinton, & Watson 152).
Severe weight loss may eventually lead to hospitalization to prevent
death by starvation.
Bulimia Nervosa is a disorder in which the individual has recurrent
episodes of binge eating. Self-induced vomiting usually terminates the
binge (Browwell & Forey 335). Vomiting decreases the physical abdominal
pain that occurs after an individual binges. Although binges may be
pleasurble, self-criticism and a depressed mood often follow. People
with this disorder exhibit great concern about their weight and make
repeated attempts to control it by dieting, vomiting, or the use of
diuretics (Bronwell & Forey 342). Weight fluctuations are common due to
alternating fasts and binges. These people often feel that their life
is dominated by conflicts surrounding eating.
The Eating Attitudes Test (EAT-26) is a reliable and valid measure of
symptoms commonly found in an eating disorder. The test was designed by
Garner and Garfinkle in 1979. It was designed as a screening device for
the detection of clinical eating disorders (Boyadjieva & Steinhausen
1996). Many clinicians have suggested that eating disorders are caused
by extreme body focus. The EAT-26 is a twenty-six item test which
focuses on body self-evaluation (Beebe, Holmbeck, Lane, & Rosa 1996).
High EAT-26 scores were associated with an increased number of "fat" or
"thin" feelings. Negative feelings of others after dieting were also
noted. Women with eating disorders may tend to focus on others' body
shapes. They may also expect others to be as emotionally invested in
body shapes as they themselves are (Beebe, Hombeck, Scholar, Lane, &
Rosa 1996). "Clinicians have suggested that anorexia nervosa and
bulimia nervosa, while behaviorally distinct, share a common core
pathology; women with both disorders are preoccupied with body weight
and shape (Beebe, Holmbeck, Scholar, Lane, & Rosa 1996)."
A sample of university women completed the Eating Attitudes 26-item
test. Items focused on personal perception on body shape and weight.
It was predicted that the relationship between EAT-26 scores and
reactions to dieting situations are stronger when applied directly to
the self than when applied specifically to others (Beebe, Holmbeck,
Scholar, Lane, & Rosa 1996). Present data supports the idea that
individuals who scored high on the EAT-26 reported noticing more
weight-related information in other women. They also expect other women
to evaluate themselves on the basis of weight and shape.
Perfectionism is also a characterization by a relentless struggle of a
thin body which include a high degree of perfectionism. A recent
approach views perfectionism in three components: "91) self-oriented
perfectionism- the holding of unrealistic expectations for others; and
(2) other- oriented perfectionism- the holding of unrealistic
expectations for others; and (3) socially prescribed perfectionism- a
perceived need to attain standards and expectations prescribed by
significant others (Pliner & Haddock 1996)." Patients feelings of
unworthiness results from not living up to expectations. Such feelings
of success and self-worth are related to meeting external standards.
Undergraduate women were used in a study to look at the three levels of
perfectionism. High EAT subjects were thought to adopt the
experimenter's goals as their own. If anorexics have high standards set
for them by others and are higher on "self-oriented perfectionism," they
should set higher personal goals. Low EAT subjects should not adopt
other's standards to such a high degree. High EAT subjects would adhere
more strongly to their goals (Pliner & Haddock 1996) The results om the
goal specific experiment showed that high EAT subjects tended to set
lower goals than low EAT subjects. Women who are weight concerned are
socially perfect. They tend to succumb to unrealstic standards of them
set by others. High EAT subjects who set these unrealistic goals for
themselves tended to create a situation where failure was unlikely.
They were also more affected by failure feedback. With negative
feedback came feelings of depression. Anorexics are extrememly
sensitive to the opinions of others. Performance standards are readily
accepted, and social approval is extrememly important (Pliner & Haddock
1996). The relentless pursuit of a thin body is an attempt to obtain
social approval by conforming to the characteristics of a socially
attractive body.
Families of anorexics are also extremely important in the treatment
process. Families tend to avoid conflict and present a façade of
togetherness. Mothers tend to be overprotective...
MLA Style
. EssayMania.com. Retrieved on 25 May, 2012 from
<http://essaymania.com/72196/eating-disorders>
More College Papers
Eating Disorders essay
The Media and Eating Disorders
The influence of the media on the increase of eating disorders cannot be refuted. From an early age we were bombarded with images and messages that reinforce the idea to be happy and successful you must be thin. Today, you cannot read a magazine or newspaper, turn on
Media And Eating Disorders essay
The Media and Eating Disorders
The influence of the media on the increase of eating disorders cannot be refuted. From an early age we were bombarded with images and messages that reinforce the idea to be happy and successful you must be thin. Today, you cannot read a magazine or newspaper, turn on
East Of Eden essay
East of Eden by John Steinbeck
In the novel, East of Eden by John Steinbeck, Catherine Ames is one of the main characters. She is introduced to the reader as a monster and as time goes on, she possesses both monster like and animal qualities. As Catherine she gets older and wiser, she gets more evi