Anorexia Nervosa - Includes Bi Essay -- essays research papers fc

Anorexia NervosaIn America, girls are given the message at a very young age that in order to be happy and successful, they must be thin. Given the value which society places on creation thin, it is not surprising that eat disorders are on the increase. Every time you walk into a store, you are surrounded by the images of emaciated models that appear on the covers of fashion magazines. Thousands of teenage girls are starving themselves occasional in an effort to attain what the fashion industry considers to be the ideal figure. The average model weighs 23% less than the average woman. Maintaining a weight 20% below your expected consistence weight fits the criteria for the emotional take in disorder known as anorexia. Most models, according to medical standards, fit into the category of being anorexic (Thompson, Colleen). Anorexia has been known and recognized by doctors for at least 300 years. Most researchers agree that the number of patients with this life threatening disease is increasing at an alarming rate. The Rice Counseling Center defines anorexia as an emotional disorder characterized by an intense fear of becoming obese, lack of self-esteem and distorted body image which results in self-induced starvation. In accordance with information given by the Counseling Center at the University of Lawson 2Virginia, the development of this disease more often than not begins at the age of 11 or 18. Significantly, these ages coincide with new phases of a girls life, the commencement and ending of adolescence. Recent estimates suggest that out of all 200 American girls between this age span, one will develop anorexia to some degree. The disease develops over a period of time during which the sufferer changes her eating patterns from normal or near normal to a very restricted diet (S.C.A.R.E.D. Website). This process can take anywhere from months to years. Clinically, an anorexic is diagnosed by having a body weight 20% below the expected body weight of a he althy person at the same age and height of the eating disorder patient. The anorexic often becomes frightened of gaining weight and even of food itself. The patient may feel fat, even though their body weight is easy below the normal weight for their height. Some also feel they do not deserve pleasure out of life and will deprive themselves of situations offe... ...ily, friends, and the reasons she may have fallen into a pattern of self-starvation. As a patient learns more about her condition, she is often more willing to try to help herself recover. In treating anorexia nervosa, it is extremely important to remember that immediate success does not guarantee a permanent cure. Sometimes, even after successful hospital treatment and make it to normal weight, patients suffer relapses. Follow-up therapy lasting three to five years is recommended if the patient is to be completely cured (Cove, Judy).Lawson 6Works CitedThompson, Colleen. Society and feeding Disorders. Mirror Mirror 1 9, October 1998. Online. Available http//www.mirror-mirror.org/society.htm Accessed 23, October 1998. Saunders, Janice. Anorexia and Bulimia. S.C.A.R.E.D. Online. Available http//www.geocities.com/HotSprings/Spa/3901/index.html Accessed 23, October 1998. Cove, Dr. Judy. Anorexia Nervosa General Information. Mental Health Net Online. Available http//www.cmhc.com Accessed 23, October 1998.Pearson, Nanett. A Personal Recovery Story ravenous for Attention. Attention Online. Available http//www.laureate.com/attention.html Accessed 31, October 1998.