Week 4 Assignment PSY 240 November 13, 2013 To Eat or Not to Eat Hello everyone. My name is Ruth and I want to talk to you guys about eating disorders. An eating disorder is essentially an illness that disrupts a person’s every day diet which can cause a person to pretty much stop eating or over eat, depending on the illness. These illnesses are more apparent in the teenage years and in to young adulthood (Pinel, 2011), which makes sense because this is when we start becoming more aware of our bodies as well as other people’s bodies. We might want to look like the model we just saw on TV and will do anything to get that body, right? But an eating disorder is not the way to go; we will get in to the effects of …show more content…
Being obsessed with weight, people with anorexia nervosa tend to weigh themselves repeatedly, portion food and eat very small quantities are certain foods – no fats, no carbs, no sugars (Pinel, 2011). Just like with drugs, some people get better after one bout of anorexia nervosa, while some relapse and some, unfortunately, lose the battle as their health declines. Now, here is some of the scarier stuff that happens to our bodies with anorexia nervosa. Your bones thin, which is called osteoporosis); your hair and nails become brittle; your skin becomes dry and yellow because your liver stops functioning correctly. A condition called lanugo starts which is when thin, fine hair starts to grow all over the body; you become anemic and your muscles become weak and start wasting away; you becoming severely constipated as well as develop multi-organ failure. You get low blood pressure as well as slow breathing and pulse; brain damage and damage to the structure and function of the heart occurs, including heart disease and heart attacks; your internal body temperature drops which causes you to be cold all of the time and you start to feel very lethargic and tired all of the time. Lastly, if your condition continues, you can become infertile but you need to be at a healthy weight to be able to carry a baby anyway. Do these symptoms sound fun to anyone? You group a couple of these together, and you could lose your life.
Many people are unaware of the background of eating disorders. Women are more likely than men to develop an eating disorder and they usually develop in childhood before the age of 20 (Ross-Flanigan 1). Women as well as men can develop an eating disorder; it is just more likely for a woman to develop one. Eating disorders are usually developed in adolescent or childhood years when a person is influenced the most. Also “Eating disorders are psychological conditions that involve overeating, voluntary starvation, or both. Anorexia nervosa, anorexic bulimia, and binge eating are the most well-known types of eating disorders” (Ross-Flanigan 1). Many people assume that an eating disorder is when a person staves themselves; they do not realize that it can involve overeating as well. Some eating disorders also involve purging, but not all. People with an eating disorder fear gaining weight even when they are severely underweight. They do not lack an appetite (Ross-Flanigan 1). These people are
Some of the current changes that can be seen in regards to prescription privileges include changes in the ways that physicians and mental health professionals are able to prescribe medications to their patients. According to Brenda Smith of the APA (2012), currently patients receive their medications for psychological conditions by a physician usually without having been evaluated by a mental health practitioner according to the CDC. The trend includes individuals to visit their general health practitioners in order to receive psychotropic medications such as antidepressants and anxiolytics. The problem with individuals receiving these medications from other sources include: deterrence
a. Nominal: This is a measurement that has a number assigned to show something or someone else, an example of this would be one’s social security number.
People with anorexia nervosa have a tendency to look in the mirror and see their body as overweight and ugly even when in reality they are dangerously thin. A sufferer of anorexia nervosa can be underweight, emaciated with protruding bones or a sunken appearance. They can experience fatigue, dizziness or even fainting. The nails become brittle, the hair can fall out, and women can even experience loss of menstruation or irregularities in their menstrual cycle (Timberline, 2005).
In modern American culture, health and food are a serious issue. We have all heard how to eat healthy: how many calories is too much, which foods to eat, which foods to avoid, and so on. However, very few people eat a truly healthy diet but some people have eating habits so unhealthy that it is considered a psychiatric disorder. These disorders are classified as eating disorders. Ever since the middle of the twentieth century, eating disorders have been increasingly more common (Barlow & Durand, 2015). According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5th ed.; DSM-5; American Psychiatric Association [APA], 2013), eating disorders include a wide range of symptoms and fall under these classifications: pica, rumination disorder,
Sternberg's Theory of Love describes three components that make up different combinations or levels of love that can be shared between two people. The three components are intimacy, passion, and commitment. Intimacy refers to understanding and concern for the other person. This component deals with warm affection and getting to know each other on a deeper level. Passion refers to stronger feelings of emotion,
In today’s society, it has become hard for the average person to fit the high expectations and perfect mold that has been created by being connected to the internet. With the pressure so high, and competition so intense everyone is striving to become perfect to fit the mold. Eating disorders have become common in many people as a way to change their body image or gain more control over their life, caused by the stress of trying to be one’s best. But it has been overlooked for many years and a lot of people don’t understand the significance of eating disorders and how they affected the lives of not only young women but everyone. Eating disorders are a serious problem that affects the lives of many people and, should not be overlooked.
When the topic of eating disorders (ED), anorexia, bulimia, starving, purging, or any other form of self harm is brought into an everyday conversation, it is simply looked at as nothing out of them norm and is just brushed off as if the topic was concerning what the President had for lunch that day. At first glance, the average person would probably conclude that the main reason eating disorders are so noted in young women today is simply due to the fact that the media puts so much pressure on these women to be “perfect”. Eating disorders are a very prominent and common factor in our society, it is not something anyone can really evade. There are many theories as to what causes eating disorders. Although doctors and ED specialists cannot
“Anorexia isn't really about food. It's an unhealthy way to try to cope with emotional problems. When you have anorexia, you often equate thinness with self-worth.” (Mayo clinic). They are usually in denial of their illness and have a psychological problem in which they think of themselves as overweight and obese but they believe this because they think they are perfectionist and need to have the perfect image or if they don’t they are worthless, never being satisfied with their weight (Helpguide.org). In addition, it is believed that causes of anorexia nervosa are correlated with “family and social pressures” (Helpguide.org). In addition, they are blind by this illness and are unable to see their true self, blinding them to see the problem that has emerged, in which leads to denial of there being an eating disorder. “Thoughts about dieting, food, and your body may take up most of your day—leaving little time for friends, family, and other activities you used to enjoy. Life becomes a relentless pursuit of thinness and going to extremes to lose weight.” (Helpguide.org).They are forced to withdraw from friends, family, and normal activities, which also leads to depression. Some of their thoughts come from society that focuses on the perfect image and the way someone should look that contributes to their illness and their obsession of being a certain
This disease is life threatening due to the lack of nutrients the body needs and the heart will begin to slow down creating heart failure a risk because of the body’s low blood pressure. There are a lot of other effects anorexia nervosa such as loss of muscle causing the body to be very weak, reduction of bone density creating osteoporosis, severe dehydration which causes the kidneys to begin to fail, and dry skin and hair loss can also be a problem.
Anorexia nervosa is a severe mental illness which carries mental, physical and psychological consequences. It is often characterised by low body weight and image distortion, along with obsessive concerns and fears about the gaining of weight.(1) This constant anxiety of weight gain manifests itself through the deprivation of food and excessive exercise. Anorexia Nervosa can broken down further into the restricting type where weight loss is achieved through the restriction of calories,(2) or the purging type where vomiting, laxatives and diuretics(2) are used to gain the similar outcomes. Both of these types have severe impacts on an individuals health and knowledge of the symptoms, care and impacts it has is imperative.
Many individuals nowadays suffer from many illnesses, one in particular is eating disorders. There are many types of eating disorders, but there are three common ones that are known today, which are anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge-eating disorder. Eating disorders are not healthy, this type of disease can be very fatal and crucial to one 's health mentally, physically, and socially. The purpose of this report is to provide background information about eating disorders, strategies to prevent this illness from occurring, and lastly potential cures and treatments that can be attained to an individual if the illness is caught early. Using this information outsiders who are not familiar to this topic can be more aware.
In US today, over 30 million men, women, and children suffer from an eating disorder. The most common eating disorders are; Anorexia, Binge eating, and Bulimia. Why do people resort to something so life threatening? Many people are turning towards eating disorders because they don’t accept who they are. Eating disorders are a mental illness that can have dangerous effects on the human body, and several people are involved in this bad habit.
“Anorexia nervosa is a self-induced starvation resulting from a fear of fatness, even though the patient is underweight.” (Ignatavicius & Workman, 2016, p. 1238) This disorder is most commonly seen in adolescent girls and women but can be seen in boys and men. Care for patients with anorexia nervosa can be quite complicated but is essential for their recovery. If these patients do not receive proper care they can deteriorate quickly and death will then be inevitable. “Approximately 15% of all patients suffering from anorexia nervosa die from the disorder: two-thirds from malnutrition, one-third as a result of suicide.” (Bakker, et al., 2011, pp. 16-22) Care plans for these patients will need to include physical, emotional, and psychological goals and interventions.
A young girl named Amy who was only about 18 years of age, suffered from an eating disorder known as anorexia nervosa. She took time to realize she had an eating disorder, and she was also in denial. Amy thought everyone was just jealous of her self-control to be thin. An eating disorder is generally defined as any range of psychological disorders characterized by abnormal or disturbed eating habits. There are various eating disorders but the three main ones are anorexia, bulimia, and binge eating. Eating disorders are common in today’s society in both women and men, and they need all the help and knowledge on this disease.