Eating Disorders

Introduction to Eating Disorders

Eating Disorders are serious mental health conditions in which relentless eating habits/behaviors hurt an individual’s well-being and disrupt their ability to function with correlating thoughts and emotions. The most common and widely known eating disorders include anorexia, bulimia and body dysmorphia. These conditions have been known to not only negatively affect the suffering individual, but also but a strain on family members and those who have close relationships. Over recent years, the amount of individuals in society with eating disorders has demonstrated a serious incline due to increased public awareness through social media. It’s tremendously important to encourage an individual to seek help for this mental illness as it can unfortunately be fatal in severe cases.

Stigma on Eating Disorders

The progress in recovery of individuals suffering from eating disorders can be adversely affected by public stigma. Public stigma encompasses the view of people within society and their thoughts regarding a given concept of focus. Societies perception on people with eating disorders is primarily negative, and a large percentage views the individuals as being responsible for the disorder they possess. Studies reveal that stigmatized beliefs created anger and fear within the public and created room for the emergence of avoidant behaviors. Avoidant behaviors fuel social distance and can consist of neglecting assistance, care or work. This stigma is detrimental to their recovery process as it further casts these individuals from society. They experience greater disconnection from their peers and have less of a support system with the public looking down on their illness that they are not in control of. An important piece of recovery when dealing with a mental health disorder is having a dependence on others to be there for you during your struggle in which the negative stigma strips from these people. The amount of people suffering from eating disorders within the United States alone is equal to 28.8 million, which includes both men and women.

Men and Stigma

In recent years, both mental health and eating disorders have been gaining more publicity. Men over woman have an even greater tendency to be silenced by their disorder as they fear the public judgement with the idea of a mental health disorder being in direct conflict with the idea of masculinity. Masculinity among men is highly valued and common perception of such is that it is essential for preserving their self identity. Eating disorders interfere with body image, specifically with the concept of body dysmorphia.

Types of Eating Disorders

Body Dysmorphia

Body dysmorphia is the extreme fixation on flaws in ones appearance in which is accompanied by overwhelming negative thoughts. These flaws that individuals obsess over are unnoticeable to those around them. Both men and women of society have been affected by body dysmorphia, and this mental illness is said to affect 1 out of every 50 people. Eating disorders and body dysmorphia go hand in hand where it is common for those who have this immensely negative outlook on their body to resort to an eating disorder as an attempt to combat their dissatisfaction with their self image.

Anorexia nervosa

Anorexia is characterized by an overpowering fearfulness of calories and gaining weight overall. Most common practices consist of limiting and restricting certain food groups which can result in an energy deficit. Contrary to portrayal by the social media, people suffering from anorexia do eat. Individuals with anorexia can exhibit paranoid behaviors at the sight of food such as analyzing nutrition labels before consumption and refusing to eat food that they used to love. Physical signs include hair loss, extreme weight loss and malnutrition. Typical treatment routes for anorexia include supervised weight gain in conjunction with talking therapy.

Bulimia

Those who suffer from bulimia experience periods of binge eating where one excessively consumes food within a short time frame. After such, they take extreme measures to combat weight gain such as using laxatives, forcing themselves to vomit or with extreme exercise. Th purging type consist of the self induced vomiting and the laxative use whereas using fasting or methods of rigorous exercise is categorized as the nonpurging type. Those who are bulimic can develop severe dental problems due to stomach acid deteriorating tooth enamel as well as bad breath and a variety of other health issues. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is a common course of treatment for this eating disorder in which the goal is to combat negative thoughts and feelings by breaking them into smaller parts. Many individuals who have bulimia also suffer from anorexia nervosa.

Connection to Science, Technology and Society

The idea of eating disorders and public stigma is directly related to the intersection of Science, Technology and Society for multiple reasons. The constant advancements in technology, particularly along the lines of social media, fuel the spread of negative content and opinions on individuals who are suffering from these mental health conditions. On a more positive note, as society gains new information on mental illness through scientific exploration, there will be a better cohesive understanding on eating disorders and hopefully improve public perception as it becomes a more normalized condition. This increase of societal awareness will also enable these individuals to get help and support while healing.

Conclusion

Overall, eating disorders are widely prevalent in society and are becoming more common within households as people become aware of this mental health issue. The most well known types of eating disorders include that of body dysmorphia, anorexia nervosa, and bulimia. Minimal support for those afflicted by eating disorders is massively detrimental to their overall recovery process. Another aspect that further isolates these individuals from society and diminishes the support they receive is negative public perception. Public stigma puts the blame of their condition on themselves plays a large role in silencing those suffering and creating missing voices.

Sources

Zaydlin, M. (2017, March 23). The Stigma Surrounding Men with Eating Disorders. National Eating Disorders Association. https://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/blog/stigma-surrounding-men-eating-disorders

Dimitropoulos, G., Freeman, V. E., Muskat, S., Domingo, A., & McCallum, L. (2016). “You don’t have anorexia, you just want to look like a celebrity”: perceived stigma in individuals with anorexia nervosa. Journal of mental health (Abingdon, England), 25(1), 47–54. https://doi.org/10.3109/09638237.2015.1101422

Manning, M., & Greenfield, S. (2022). University students’ understanding and opinions of eating disorders: a qualitative study. BMJ open, 12(7), e056391. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2021-056391

Griffiths, S. K. (2021). Investigating the impact of shame and stigma on social support seeking during eating disorder recovery (Order No. 28643826). Available from ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global. (2584035926). Retrieved from http://libproxy.clemson.edu/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/dissertations-theses/investigating-impact-shame-stigma-on-social/docview/2584035926/se-2

Strumia, Renata, et al. Eating Disorder in Males, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated, 2011. ProQuest Ebook Central, https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/clemson/detail.action?docID=3021092.

Brelet, L., Flaudias, V., Désert, M., Guillaume, S., Llorca, P. M., & Boirie, Y. (2021). Stigmatization toward People with Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa, and Binge Eating Disorder: A Scoping Review. Nutrients, 13(8), 2834. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu13082834

Cliodhna O’Connor, Niamh McNamara, Lesley O’Hara, Megan McNicholas & Fiona McNicholas (2021) How do people with eating disorders experience the stigma associated with their condition? A mixed-methods systematic review, Journal of Mental Health, 30:4, 454-469, DOI: 10.1080/09638237.2019.1685081

Padierna, A., Quintana, J.M., Arostegui, I. et al. The health-related quality of life in eating disorders. Qual Life Res 9, 667–674 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1008973106611