Eating Disorders

Anorexia and Bulimia

Amanda Symonette
Notes
 Eating disorders are a problem, not only on the
US, but all over the world
 It is not, as people always assume, a life
choice, it is, in most cases a mental disorder
 Anorexia and Bulimia are dangerous and do
take lives
 Insecurity, peer pressure, the media,
depression and anxiety are the main reasons
for this disease.
 Pro-Ana, Ed, and Mia
What is an Eating Disorder?
Mental Illness?
 An eating disorder is a condition which affects
an individuals eating habits, either as a result
of their own doing (self-inflicted), or as a bodily
reaction to the consumption of food. It can
either be a lack of eating or over eating.
 A mental disorder or mental illness any disease
of the mind; the psychological state of
someone who has emotional or behavioral
problems serious enough to require psychiatric
or even medical/physical help.
What are some types of
eating disorders?
 Bulimia nervosa-the activity of bingeing on large
amounts of food, followed by self-induced vomiting.

 Anorexia-A condition marked by a diminished appetite

and aversion to food. Often results in physical signs of
wasting.

 Compulsive Eating Disorder-Also known as Binge

eating, compulsive over eating is the excessive
consumption of food ,often thousands of calories at a
time. People with Compulsive Over eating have what is
characterized as an "addiction" to food.
What causes Eating
disorders?
Eating disorders are a mental illness that
affects mainly your appetite, but also your
mood, performance level and your physical
and mental state. People with anorexia and
bulimia get their influence from the media
where the saying is “thin is in”. They get their
inspiration or as they call it “thinspiration” from
anorexic and skinny celebrities and fellow
anorexic’s and bulimics.
Ana, Ed and Mia
 Ana- short for anorexia, Ana is the “Goddess” that
anorexics follow and look to for “thinspiration”.
Anorexics turn to Ana for guidance and help and she is
their friend and “mother”
 Mia is short for Bulimia. She is just like Ana but for
bulimics.
 Ed, from Eating Disorder is a friend to girls with
anorexia and Bulimia and acts sometimes as their
boyfriend
 Ana, Mia, and Ed are real to some of these people with
eating disorders, while to others they are just symbols
of what they are. This all ties into the mental aspect of
Anorexia and Bulimia.
 90 % of those who have eating disorders
are women between the ages of 12 and 25.
Men and women with eating disorders
see themselves as fat no matter how small
they are. Even young teenagers who drop
down to the double digits, look in the mirrors
and still think to them selves that they are fat.
They average healthy women is 5”4 and 140
pounds.

Eating disorders effect every 1 in 5 women.

Anorexia is the 3rd most common chronic illness among women.

Anorexia affects ALL ages meaning young grade school

girls as well, 42% of 1st-3rd grade girls want to be
thinner, 51% of 9 and 10 year-old girls feel better about
themselves if they are on a diet, 81% of 10 year olds are
afraid of being fat, and 46% of 9-11 year-olds are
"sometimes" or "very often" on diets.
 Pro-Ana/Pro-Mia
Encouraging Anorexia and Bulimia
 There are websites and blogs all over the internet that
encourage young women and the few men) with these
eating disorders saying that not eating and ignoring food
and hunger show signs of will-power and strength. They
give each other advice on how to get smaller and how to
loose weight faster. Ana is an anorexics best friend and
following Ana becomes a sort of religion and it gets so
serious that cults, people who support anorexics and are
proud of it and are “Pro Ana”, begin to form and Anorexia,
instead of being thought of as a mental and eating disorder,
becomes a lifestyle, philosophy and religious practice. The
same goes for bulimics. They look to other bulimics and
anorexics for tips and on websites, they post pictures of
their “progress” and congratulate each other on how
beautiful and thin they are becoming.
Pro-Ana/Pro-Mia
Encouraging Anorexia and Bulimia
(cont.)
 People who suffer from these two eating disorders
think of their “journey” is a “quest to perfection. They
will not stop until their skin clings to their bones, their
eyes are sunken in and they can hardly breath, and in
some cases and on blogs that they post they say, they
look at themselves and see how pathetic and sick they
look, but they still feel “heavy” and that they can get
smaller. Some make the excuse that it’s because of my
disease so I can’t stop. Others truly cannot see what is
happening to their bodies until they end up in the
hospital. Some With these eating disorders fear Ana
and Mia, and try to get out of it. But can’t fearing what
will happen if they don’t follow Ana, they are mentally ill
and hallucinate the existence of Ana. Mia and Ed.
Thinspiration
 Who anorexics and bulimics look up to
Bulimia can lead to teeth decay, kidney and liver damage,
bleeding and tearing of the throat and much more
What is the cause and the
best way to cure it?
 Anorexia and Bulimia are serious illnesses that need to be
treated ASAP. The disease is more common in women and
young female adolescents then in men and male
adolescents( but males do suffer) The media over time has
changed the image of the “perfect female figure” Young women
are influenced by celebrities, the need for attention, and
sometimes the encouragement of men. It is also a result of
depression and anxiety. Peer pressure and the desire to be
perfect are motivation for people with these eating disorders.
With the help pf doctors, therapist and friends, they can be
treated. Lack of treatment can lead to death or permanent
damage. These eating disorders are hard to cure. The best way
to cure them is by becoming more and more comfortable with
eating. Anyone suffering from anorexia or bulimia must eat
slowly, so that their bodies can adjust to the consumption of
food.
How can Anorexia/Bulimia be
linked to science?
 Due to research, what causes people to have eating disorders
can be linked to biology and the genetic structure and a type of
estrogen called estradiol. Kelly Klump, from the University of
Michigan and a group of other scientist have discovered that
girls with higher levels of estradiol (responsible for the growth of
reproductive organs and also influences other organs including bones ) in the
stages of puberty are the ones more prone to the disease or
have the disease. The higher amount of estradiol does
something that switched the genetics around, causing the
disorder. Eating disorders also have a tendency to be linked to
biological roots. Girls with anorexia have a history of other
family with eating disorders of certain types, like the link
between people with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia have it
in their family( biological causes). The risk of Anorexia or any
type of obtaining an eating disorder is most likely when puberty
begins.
 Science is limited in helping to cure anorexia and
bulimia. There are not medications that can be
given, except for anti-depressants, and any other
medications that play into the emotional factor of
the eating disorder. Medications given to people
with eating disorders usually do not work because
of starvation, side effects to anti-depressants are
made worse. Occasionally medications can be
used for anxiety, depression and gastric discomfort
from eating. The most important thing is the weight
gain, slowly but surely, and the medications are
simply used to help keep the patients motivated.
The benefits of the medications is that it can help
with the patients self esteem and confidence and
keeps them on track to recovery.
Cultural Reasons
 Anorexia affects all women around the world. It is
hard to find medicine to cure it because scientist
only know a little bit of information about the
disease and don’t know exactly what genes and
affects the people with the disease mentally.
Another reason Anorexia is a problem is
because, nowadays in certain culture( and
countries in Asia and the US) being skinny is
what is popular and is considered beautiful and
the wanted image by millions of women.
Healthy Unhealthy
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