Eating Disorders: Anorexia Depression Essay

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hear about persons who suffer from diseases such as HIV / AIDS, cancer. However, what we barely hear about is eating disorders yet it is a disease that affects several people each and every year. In the past quarter century, eating disorders have come to be a serious matter. Several individuals have been diagnosed with eating disorders. Age wise, more teenagers compared to the other age brackets suffer from eating disorders. The pervasiveness of disordered eating has come to be a very grave issue and is assessed to be much greater. One of the primary reasons why eating disorders are a rising cause of concern is their direct link to increased depression in the disordered eater. Statistics indicate that eating disorders which consist of illnesses such as anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, binge-eating disorder as well as eating disorders which are uncharacteristic are projected to take place in about five to ten million young as well as adult females and roughly one million males in the United States (Patrick, 2002). These statistics lead one to believe that depression is not merely a symptom of eating disorders but could very easily also be a result of it. Usually eating disorders, as we will see further on in this paper, are a response to fit into social standards or perceptions, which if aren't met, can lead to mocking and decreased self-respect and self-esteem. What this does is lead to increasingly depressive behavior and attitudes.

Research done by Patrick (2002) shows that 5 -- 10% of females who are post-pubescent are deemed to be disordered eaters. It is estimated that uncharacteristic eating disorders take place in about three to six percent of middle-school age females while it occurs in about two to thirteen percent of females in high school. For instance, studies indicate that about 10% of females who are aged 13 years old have admitted to using self-induced vomiting with the main effort of losing weight. However, eating disorders are not ailments that take place in only young and adolescent girls. Statistics indicate that women aged between the years 25 to 35 who attend college are assessed to take part in binging, as well as purging, as methods or practices of managing weight (Patrick, 2002). All these statistics point to the need of the disordered eater to mold into what is socially acceptable and thereafter doing whatever is necessary to fit in that mold, even if it means having a terrible diet or making oneself sick to maintain the social image.

Causal Factors

One of the causal factors of eating disorders is sports. Individuals who participate in athletics such as dancing and gymnastics have to sustain a tiny and skinny body frame. In particular, gymnasts constantly try to lose weight in order to maintain their shape. As a result, most of them end up eating less and less amounts of food and they also over-exercise their bodies in order to keep in shape. One other causal factor to this ailment is the aspect of peer pressure and body image. In the present day, most of the women in the world attain this notion at a very young age that to be beautiful and attractive, one has to have a thin body and figure.

For instance, stores, billboards and magazines are constantly filled with the images and pictures of emaciated and skinny models. This in turn has caused numerous teenage and adolescent girls to starve themselves in order to accomplish these bodies that have come to be considered the ideal and perfect figures. This has come to be an issue because such young girls fail to realize that these images in the magazines are not always real and have been altered through airbrushing to make the models seem ideal. Another causal factor for eating disorders is low self-confidence or self-esteem. Majority of the teens in the present day become individuals who eat disorderly by starving themselves because of being mocked that they are fat or overweight and do not fit in with the society (Mazzeo and Bulik, 2009).

Eating Disorders and Depression

In accordance to statistics given by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, approximately 50% of all patients who are diagnosed with eating disorders have a history of depression. What is more, binge eating impacts three percent of the adult population in the United States which in turn causes it to be classified as the most prevalent eating disorder.

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In addition, depression also afflicts majority of the people suffering from anorexia which, as stated, is another serious eating disorder common in the United States. Individuals who suffer from anorexia nervosa end up not eating sufficient amounts of food so as to sustain a healthy weight. However, the outcomes of this depression can be grave. Research studies indicate that individuals suffering from anorexia have a 50 times more likelihood, compared to the overall population, of dying due to suicide out of depression (Jaret, 2015).

It is imperative to note that depression might bring about eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa. However, there is also evidence that suggests eating disorders can bring about depression. For instance, being extremely underweight and famished, an aspect very prevalent in anorexia can bring about psychosomatic changes that are acknowledged to adversely impact the moods of people and make them depressed. Depression perceived in individuals suffering from eating disorders has its own distinctive features. This is for the reason that majority of the individuals who develop and end up suffering from eating disorders usually have a sense of being not good enough in relation to other people or the societal perceptions. They end up becoming fixated and infatuated with perfectionism. This in turn starts to get engrossed on what the individuals eat. However, causal to this perfectionism is anxiety and depression. More often than not, these sort of patients usually have gone through a lot of emotional trauma (Jaret, 2015).

Literature Review of Anorexia Nervosa

Anorexia Nervosa can be well-defined as a psychosomatic illness, categorized by an infatuated and fixated aspiration or yearning to lose weight by declining to eat (Soanes and Stevenson, 2008). It is a very serious ailment with a twenty percent rate of mortality in chronic patients. Suggestions indicate that this is due to a resilient sense of denial amongst those affected by anorexia and therefore the symptoms are usually perceived when it is already late. As a result, it becomes quite hard to provide treatment to such patients. In addition, the aspect of self-esteem and positive self-image can be dependent on being thin for patients suffering from anorexia nervosa. Therefore, patients can end up perceiving the treatment being provided to them as a way of controlling them and for this reason become resilient to health care and treatment. Subsequently, providing care for the anorexic patients can be quite difficult for nursing personnel. At present, there is a mounting weight loss belief and culture and this disease is progressing into an all-time outstanding issue in nursing care (King and Turner, 2000). The purpose of this literature review is to examine the disorder that is anorexia and depression. In this paper, three literature reviews on anorexia nervosa were analyzed with one similar factor that being low self-esteem and the fear of weight restoration. As aforementioned, low self-worth and self-confidence has come to be an issue for the reason that girls from a tender age try so hard to look like the models in the magazines and starve themselves. Sadly they fail to realize that these images in the magazines are not always real and have been altered through airbrushing to make the models seem ideal. In addition, majority of the teens in the present day become individuals who eat disorderly by starving themselves because of being mocked that they are fat or overweight and do not fit in with the society.

The whole procedure and practice of weight restoration can be quite a considerable challenge to nursing personnel. Some of the major symptoms of anorexia nervosa include extreme fears of eating food and gaining weight. As a result, the patients who suffer from anorexia nervosa are more often than not resilient in being given treatment and also gaining some weight back. This is for the reason that anorexia nervosa has come to be part and parcel of their own individuality and personality and a battle for control. In turn, this can bring about poor levels of compliance from the patients and challenges in offering care and treatment.

This can be perceived in a research study undertaken by Karpowicz et al. (2009) where the participants were thirty eight females who were examined at an expert ward for anorexia nervosa management and treatment. The 38 participants played a part in a self-evaluation questionnaire at the time of admittance into the expert ward and once more after a time period of three months. The research study came.....

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