The Hidden Disorders

Posted by Sara Frunzi in English 1 · Giknis · E Band on Wednesday, April 26, 2017 at 7:28 pm

Hi, my name is Sara, and I’m going to be telling you about eating disorders. As you probably know, this is for the You & The World project, a project where ninth grade students in Ms. Giknis’ class take on an issue that we see in the world. We become the experts of our classes on our topics, researching them deeply until we completely understand them. Then, we will become an agent of change in the world, making an impact on this issue or someone who suffers at its hand. For my project, I’m going to delve into the world of eating disorders. My goal for this project is to learn as much as I can about eating disorders, then sharing that with the world to raise awareness for these issues.

First of all, an eating disorder is categorized as a disorder in which a person’s eating pattern changes dramatically, resulting in negative effects on the person’s health. There are four types of eating disorders: Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa, Binge-Eating Disorder, and Other Specified Feeding and Eating Disorders (OSFEDs). Anorexia Nervosa, usually known as simply anorexia, is when a person severely restricts their diet, even to the point of sometimes not eating at all, due to thinking that they are very overweight. Someone with anorexia will weigh themselves often, exercise excessively, and have a very strict diet that they hold themselves to almost religiously. This has a huge impact on the person’s health, causing brittle bones (osteoporosis), hair loss, severe dehydration that can manifest into kidney failure, and more. In 2011 it was discovered, by looking at fifty years of research, that “anorexia nervosa has the highest mortality rate of any psychiatric disorder”. A different study noted that “people with anorexia nervosa had a six-fold increase in mortality compared to the general population.”

This photo depicts how anorexia affects the body (in a woman). It causes a ton of problems. https://www.womenshealth.gov/publications/our-publications/fact-sheet/anorexia-nervosa.html

Binge-Eating Disorder is like the opposite disorder of Anorexia Nervosa. A person with Binge-Eating Disorder will binge on food, meaning to eat a lot in a small time frame, often secretly. They will sometimes feel shame about their eating habits and diet frequently, sometimes with little to no effect. When a person with this disorder binges, it’s usually to cope with an emotional issue occurring in their life lately. Some people joke that they “stress eat”, but those with Binge-Eating Disorder actually do. When something bad happens or they are feeling upset, they use food as a way to cope, regretting it later. This cycle of pain and food is pretty much the opposite of good for these people’s bodies. It can cause high blood pressure and blood sugar levels, gallbladder disease, and even Type II Diabetes.

This image shows some statistics about Binge-Eating Disorder in the United States. http://www.healthline.com/health/eating-disorders/binge-eating-disorder-statistics

Furthermore, Bulimia Nervosa also consists of binging on food, but a person with Bulimia will then either make themselves throw up or take laxatives to empty their system of this food quickly. Someone with Bulimia is also very concerned with their weight, dieting and exercising a lot, but unlike those with Anorexia, they keep a normal weight. This makes bulimia harder to see. However, over time symptoms and consequences arise, such as tooth decay, severe dehydration and electrolyte imbalance, inflamed intestines, and more. One study “found that the elevated mortality risks for bulimia nervosa and eating disorder not otherwise specified (now recognized as OSFED, other specified feeding or eating disorder) were similar to those for anorexia nervosa.”

This photo shows the cycle that someone with bulimia goes through, advancing their illness. http://www.healthline.com/diabetesmine/ask-dmine-how-bolus-bulimia

Finally, there are OSFEDs, Other Specified Feeding or Eating Disorders. These include atypical versions of standard eating disorders. For instance, atypical anorexia is like anorexia without some of the symptoms. Atypical bulimia is bulimia, but the binge-and-purge cycle is practiced less often. Another OSFED is purging disorder, where the person purges like with bulimia, but without binge eating. The final OSFED I’m going to talk about is night eating syndrome, where a person eats excessively eats at night.

You might be wondering why I chose this topic. I feel that eating disorders are a big problem, especially here in the U.S., because they seem to get no recognition as an actual disease. People pass it off as just a common thing, and something that only girls do. This problem relates to me, because I used to have bulimia. When I had told a friend, she didn’t feel the need to tell an adult until she noticed me throwing up after every meal. She thought it wasn’t a big deal. The reasons behind eating disorders are almost as complicated as the disorders themselves. One main reason is due to pressure from friends and the media. The media portrays all of its models as tall and unhealthily skinny, conditioning kids to want that body from a young age. Another reason is due to Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD), a disorder that causes the person to believe that they are ugly and fat when looking in the mirror or at their body, even if they are the skinniest person in the world.

This picture shows how someone with Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD) can see themselves, versus how they actually look. This disorder can encourage them to exercise and fast to the point of being too thin. https://breakingmuscle.com/learn/the-modern-male-an

As you can see, eating disorders are a big and underestimated issue in the United States, and there needs to be more awareness for them. My research has given me so much more knowledge about eating disorders and the reasonings behind them. By my next blog post, I want to know more about how aware people are of eating disorders and their impact on people’s lives. I hope that I’ve been able to educate you all a bit on eating disorders, tune in next post to learn more.

This photo shows the standard treatment for an eating disorder. This is only the standard, because the treatment depends on the individual. https://www.akronchildrens.org/cms/kidshealth/b03f6b355bc60ea4/

For more information, see my Annotated Bibliography!

Comments (2)

Amal Giknis

Sara, your post shows awesome research and grapples with the biggest issues surrounding eating disorders. Even though I have studied this in the past, I learned a lot here! I underestimated how eating disorders affect the whole body and mind, and your post really made me think. I wonder how you'll approach making a change, and I'm excited to find out what's next for you.

Orlando Irizarry

I love that your connection to this is amazing even though it isn't a positive one. I love that you are very interested on your topic because your information is very detailed. Can You like put the most for gender, like what disorders are most popular in males and females. I also love that your project is very connective to mine because Cyber bullying causes that.