Savchenko
Natalia
The
discussion will be on an eating disorder, Anorexia Nervosa, that is a huge
concern of our society. It is an eating disorder that is caused by a complex
mixture of social, psychological and physical problems and consists of various
conditions that involve an obsession with food, weight and appearance to the
degree where a person’s health, relationships and usual everyday activities are
threatened to fail.
The statistics are dramatic. Anorexia has become more common in
developing countries in the past 20 years. 50% of Anorexics recover fully,
another 20% only recover physically and the reported mortality rate is 20%.
Each year, approximately one out of every 200 females adolescents become
anorexic. About 90-95% of all people who suffer from Anorexia Nervosa are
females. The most vulnerable to this eating disorder are the ambitious,
achieving girls between the ages of 12 and 25. However, in industrialized
countries, the condition is becoming more prevalent in all age groups and both
sexes . The main trait of anorexia is when body weight is more then 15% lower
then the expected one. It is caused by fear of gaining weight that embraces excessive
preoccupation with food and abnormal eating habits.
Basically, it is an addiction that results in successive
changes in mind and body. The progression of these changes follows an orderly
and predictable path from health to mental and physical devastation. The
addiction that we are talking about is a result of self-starvation process.
This means that during that process a group of substances called endorphins is
produced by the body that is very addictive. These substances play major role in
causing the behavioral and mental changes characteristic to this condition and
are responsible for perpetuating and maintaining anorectic behavior throughout
all stages of addictive process.
The addiction concept of Anorexia Nervosa is made up of 2 principles:
One states that much of the anorexics actions like behavior and thinking are
governed by the mechanism of reward. That is a person will self-administer by
engaging in such behavior whereas a non-addictive substance will not cause a
person to automatically continue self-administration in order to get some
pleasant experience. The second is that there is a direct causative
relationship between the state of eating and the state of mood and feelings.
Which means that non-eating and weight loss promote a sense of well-being or
improvement of depressed mood via release of endorphins.
Two types of Anorexia Nervosa are recognized: first is a simple
restriction of food. People usually starve themselves despite the hunger pains
that they suffer. The second type includes restriction of food and either
regular purging or binging and purging together. It is done by means of
laxatives, appetite suppressants or even self-induced vomiting.
The distinguishing dietetic trends are consumption of low-fat
foods, vegetarianism and avoidance of all the sweet products. Moreover,
dramatic reduction in caloric intake takes place that is many times accentuated
by a significant increase in activity. Often an aversion to foods is developed.
Such eating behavior is a cause of severe lack of macronutrients such as fats,
proteins and carbohydrates as well as minerals and vitamins that make it
impossible for an organism to maintain itself in good health.
Anorexia Nervosa also falls into a category of mental illnesses
because it has been found that this condition is many times accompanied by
other mental illness. Common for all the anorexics is that food becomes the
main object of their lives and it makes them feel as if it was impossible to
live without it. Food becomes a dominant in all the daily regulations and
judgments. And unlike other eating disorders suffering from anorexia do not
consider their weight loss and restricted eating as problematic and no matter
how much they weight, the feeling of being overly fat will not abandon them.
Anorexia Nervosa consists of various stages. First is the Early
Loss Phase where a series of physical and mental changes occur as adaptation
change to promote survival. Then it is followed by an Advanced Weight Loss
Phase. It begins when a person reaches the desired weight but is unable to stop
dieting due to the addictive function of endorphins. Brain dependency takes
place, judgdements become less perceptive and objective. The third phase is the
Burn-out Phase. Here the tolerance can no longer be overcomed by an individual.
During this phase an anorectic feels the return of some anxiety and depression
because a person finds out that she or he does not cope as well as did in the
previous phases. Also because the feeling is worth, the addicted side of the
anorectic’s mind makes every effort to lock in a view of herself/himself that
is in favor of self-starvation. Just like other addicts, the anorectic has to
hit the proverbial bottom before change is truly possible and has a reasonable
chance to last. The anorectic has to experience the power of the addiction even
without being aware of it. No reasoning or threatening has anywhere near as
much effect on the anorectic’s attitude as the painful experience of being
consumed by the addiction, only to find out in the end that she has been
wreckled by it and has received nothing in return. At this point anorexics may
give in to urging of their parents or friends and agree to seek professional
help
So what are the main forces that make people loose control over
one’s lives? Anorexia Nervosa is a very complex disease and wide variety of
reasons underlie it however despite that that most specialists agree that
dieting is the basic entry line for entering the disorder.
Anorexics
themselves can be divided into two groups: first consist of those that have
concerns related to their weight. Under the second group fall those people that
have problematic relationship with oneself and others. The disorder is further
complicated when braided with the social demand that put great emphasis on
appearance and thinness. But generally it is nothing but the outcome of
chronically depressed mood and the constitutional inability to maintain an
internal equilibrium.
It is known that Anorexia nervosa affects both males and
females of different age groups and ethical and racial backgrounds. However
some tendencies do appear. Anorexia more often affects women. Men are affected
less partly because it is believed that it isn’t suitable for a man that is not
a gay to be over concerned with his body. The greater disposition towards
Anorexia Nervosa in women can easily be reasoned. It is commonplace that all
the women magazines usually have ten times as many advertisements and articles
on weight loss as man’s do. This happens because every magazine tries to
satisfy the reader’s demand. By doing that they make females bring back
thoughts about their weight over and over again. And the main reason for such
interest towards dieting is that now more then ever mankind is bombarded by
thousands of images of young beautiful and extremely thin models smiling from
everywhere: TV-screens, press and publicity boards. This fact is also directly
correlated to the increased demand on books and articles describing the diets and
exercise strategi
of them can achieve such thinness on a cost of a bit of suffering. Women may
also start correlating model’s success to their slim bodies. These thoughts may
mislead them into the idea that without it is impossible to achieve the desired
success. The models surrounding us (in press, television and other sources)
also create strong associations of beautiful as inseparable from thin that is
another reason of wanting to achieve these extremely thin shapes.
Anorexia may also result from low self-esteem in attempts to
obtain external validation by trying to match unrealistic media image. It is
most often expressed in people who are perfectionists, have difficulties in
handling stress situations or in those that possess distort body image and are
constantly preoccupied with weight, body size and shape.
Anorexia may be triggered from a simple remark of another
person towards an individual with low self-confidence. Or the psychological
situation might be adversely affected by loss of a loved one. These situations
may distort naturally weak psychological balance giving a push towards this
eating disorder.
Moreover, correlation has been established between emotional,
physical and sexual abuse. And since females are abused more often then males,
this fact serves as another reason that explains the higher percentage of cases
among women than men.
Another major source of Anorexia Nervosa lies in sports that
put great emphasis on weight and appearance. The examples are: gymnastics,
bodybuilding, ballet and distance running. In these cases competition stands
out as the main engine that generates the eating disorder.
In addition
to all the above mentioned, Anorexia nervosa may have age-related origins. When
young people during their puberty period experience many natural body changes.
They are often perceived as uncontrolled and undesirable and excessive dieting
may be seen as a mean of bringing back the control that leads to development
Anorexia Nervosa. And on the other extreme when women get older life changes
and other problems start triggering the danger of falling into this eating
disorder. For most of them it is the stress of middle life such as menopause,
conflict about sex and social pressure that demands from women to stay young or
otherwise will be displace by a younger rival either in her social or personal
life.
Some cases
of young people may result from excessive attempt of their parents to control
their child’s weight. Usually the expected effect is not achieved, instead that
makes teenagers doubt about their appearance and disturb the self-esteem that
is often based on the parent’s approval.
At last, few cases have been reported where eating disorders
occurred in various generations within a family that suggests us that genetic
prepossession does play an important role in occurrence Anorexia Nervosa.
All the above-mentioned factors act on a person making him/her
loose control over dieting, that finally result in Anorexia Nervosa. This
eating disorder has many adverse consequences as one’s body, psychology and
social life. First of all body’s regulatory mechanisms are seriously disturbed.
And the longer behavior persists worth are the consequences and harder it is to
give up the addiction. Anorexia Nervosa is a disease of malnutrition with
severe after-effects. Particularly lack of proteins can cause “cannibalism” of
an organism (auto digestion). Osteoporosis is very likely to occur under these
circumstances. Insufficient fat intake is the main cause of poor absorption of
fat-soluble vitamins. General
effects experienced by anorexics are sensitivity to cold and heat,
headaches, fatigue, weakness and fainting. Once it gets to physical complications
the heart, the blood pressure, the gastrointestinal system, teeth and gums,
lever and kidney can all be affected. Various difficulties with concentration
and thinking may also be experienced. Usually anorexics perceive distorted
surrounding situation and can not evaluate it well. On the social level the
sense of isolation causes families to fall apart, serves as barrier for good
schooling, destroys even very promising careers and most relationships. The
disorder is often accompanied by amenorrhea or by a decrease in sexual drive
and interest in males.
“To recover the anorectics inevitably will have to go through a
period of time during which a person will feel more depression and anxiety as
he or she gives up the beneficial effect of endorphins by gaining weight”
(Huebner 78). But the good thing about this eating disorder is that the process
can be reversed by normalizing the intake of nutrients, fluids and caloric
intake as well as vitamins and minerals that are all essential for proper body
functioning. But in most cases multy-disciplinary approach is required that
involve various specialists. Simple medication intake will not help since
Anorexia Nervosa is a result of combination of bio-psycho-social factors.
Psychotherapists would guide patients and support him/her emotionally.
Nutritionists would teach to patient new eating patterns. While other doctors
will help in dealing with all the physical complications.
“ Living with someone who suffers from Anorexia Nervosa can be
very difficult, as the sufferer’s behavior may seem to be deliberately
provocative and selfish “ (Treasure 11). Doctors, friends and relatives all
have to be comprehensible, chary and respondent since they all share equally
important pat in one’s recovery. Feeling of helplessness on seeing someone
acting in such a destructive way and not being able to help, is common among
the people that surround anorexics. However instead of giving up they all have
to stay positive, provide with financial and emotional support and read a lot of
information on the disease. This information will always be useful to these
people in order to understand better the suffering person and to be able to
convince him or her of the mistakable behavior by providing a person with new
hitting facts.
Anorexia nervosa is a very complex disease that can affect
almost anyone of us when influenced by certain surrounding us situations. It
occurs when someone looses control over dieting and becomes obsessed with food,
weight, body size and shape. The main triggering factor is our society that
promotes thinness and puts excessive emphasis on appearance. This makes people
want to conform to unrealistically thin models and in order to slim down fall
on track of starvation. In this process body releases endorphins that cause the
addiction. Some will recover fully, some will stay marked forever by Anorexia
Nervosa, and others will die. Lets not permit this and stop ourselves, our
friend, relative or any other person before it is to late.
Works sited:
1.Huebner, Hans F., M.D. Endorphins,
Eating Disorders and Other Addictive Behaviors.
United State of America: Hans Huebner,
1993
2.Treasure, Janet. ANOREXIA NERVOSA:A
Survival Guide for Families, Friends, and Sufferers.
Essex: Psychology Press Ltd, 1997
3.Youngson, Dr Robert. Encyclopedia of
Family Health.
London: Dr R.M. Youngson, 1995
4.Zimbardo, Philip G., and Gerrig, Richard
J. Psychology and Life.
United States: Philip G. Zimbardo,
Inc., and Richard J. Gerrig, 1999
5.<http://www.ozemail.com.au/~ultranet/anorexia4.html>