As I scrolled through my Instagram feed this morning I came across a photo collage of someone with a before and after picture from when they were struggling with anorexia to now. The difference was impeccable. The picture got me thinking though. Was the young lady cured for good, or for now? We all know how easy it is to put on weight and then loose it and vice versa. When it comes to eating disorders, it’s a whole different story. 

Being a teenage girl is hard. There is a certain expectation for how we are supposed to look and feel about ourselves. As humans, we all compare ourselves to other people. Unfortunately, some people more than others. Body dissatisfaction is the first step in an eating disorder. Once that messes with your head, there is no going back. I fear that the body image expectations in society are ruining many people’s lives. The fact that it is normal to see someone post their recovery from an eating disorder on social media is disheartening. 

Society doesn’t believe it is their fault though. They accuse these girls of being born with this mental illness that was inevitable. I argue against the statement that someone could be born hating their body. I don’t believe that someone’s brain could make them wake up one morning and think “My weight isn’t good enough, and I need to stop eating”. There has to be a motive, something that triggers this response, other than a gene. 

To get more into detail, Anorexia is a lack or loss of appetite for food. It is not the only eating disorder, but the most common. The other two main ones are Bulimia and Binge eating. Bulimia is obsessive desire to lose weight by vomiting, purging or fasting. Binge eating is when you consume unusually large amounts of food. Although all of these are different, they can be acquired in the same way.

 A scientist Alexander Mott wrote about understanding eating disorders in the early 2000’s. He believes that women who are on the constant pursuit for thinness are most likely to get anorexia. In this article, he compared famous scientist’s studies on eating disorders. Dr. Bruch, a scientist well known for his research on Anorexia, stated “Anorexia is the struggle for self-respect with the relentless pursuit to thinness. This is the key issue in Anorexia Nervosa”. I blame society for editing and publishing women in magazines and on television who are only skinny and “perfect”. When young females only see those types of women in advertisements they believe that that is how they should look. 

How can we resolve this? One clothing company already has the right idea. Arie, a lingerie brand, stopped editing their models in pictures. They choose to not alter their models in any way to “offer our customers something different, a real experience”. After surveying girls in stores, they gathered information that confirmed girls were threatened by the body image and it was harder to find a bra because they only saw it on a very slim, edited model. Their statement “Advertising has long been a realm of the unattainable image” is the exact reason why women feel the need to be something they are not. Although advertisements can be unrealistic, it is the people in society who look for this perfection. Society’s standards are raised so high that if the models weren’t perfect, people would reject the products being presented. Without realizing, we are motivating the companies to advertise in this way. 

Hopefully society can recover from the era of perfect models but it is argued if women can recover after being affected by an eating disorder. An article written by Massachusetts General Hospital challenges the idea that most people who have an eating disorder will have it for life. They started their own trials, interviewed and examined people with eating disorders for 6-12 months. After 20-25 years they had a follow up and found that more than half of the people with bulimia recovered and 30 percent of people with anorexia recovered. Their data proves that one can overcome an eating disorder. Although their studies are convincing, what about the other 70% of anorexia victims (which is the most common type of eating disorder) and the other people with bulimia who did not recover from this eating disorder. I believe that people can go into remission from a disorder but is there really a way to change your brain to make it never think in that way again is the real question. 

Dr. Laura Hill is the president of a non-profit organization that specializes in the treatment, research and education of eating disorders. She works with people every day who have been effected with eating disorders. In the Ted Talk she did in 2012 she talked about her experiences and went into detail on how the brain is effected when you have an eating disorder. 

A normal brain enjoys when you eat. It starts when your food comes from the gut and sends signals to your brain. The signal moves to the thalamus and then the insula. The insula gives the indication of the taste and degree of hunger. It then moves to the amygdala which examines if anything is wrong with the food. If not it moves through the striatum into your pleasure circuit. It examines if you get dopamine and pleasure from your food. The frontal cortex then examines if the food is good or bad and leads you to the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex which is the anticipation if you want to eat more. As you are eating your parietal is thinking how you look in relation to others. If you think you look okay, you keep eating and your brain is working together and you are thinking how good the food you are eating tastes. 

When you have an eating disorder your brain works in the same way but a different signal is going through. The food goes through your gut but the sensation doesn’t register and there is no signal that goes to the thalamus and insula. Because there is no sensation, the amygdala gets worried and is thinking the food is flat. The front of your brain is telling you that the food is bad and to stop eating. The dorsolateral prefrontal cortex doesn’t know what you should eat instead so you decide not to eat. The parietal compares you to other people and you think maybe if I stop eating in general, I will be like them. After your brain starts this cycle it is very hard to get it back into the normal one. 

This information proves that eating disorders are indeed a psychological illness and how relapse is so common. When the person begins to eat again they have “increased disturbed thoughts” and it is very difficult to continue eating with those in your mind. Although relapse is common, being in an institution is the best way to avoid the fatality of eating disorders. They use studies and research to come up with ways to treat the patient, at least for the time being. But not everyone is given a chance to go in to an institution. Many patients go undiagnosed for years and live their lives with eating disorders. A postdoctoral student at the University of California “Dawn Eichen”, wrote an article that explains the differences between eating disorders and other illnesses that are commonly mistaken as eating disorders. The issue is people are not even informed on what an eating disorder really is so when there is a chance they could have one, they are not aware in the way where they think “I need to get help”. 

Why are eating disorders so hard to treat? Dr. Iiona Kajokiene who works at an institute of psychology, explained her knowledge of this along with her opposition on what other scientists believe eating disorders are. In the ted talk, she stated how eating disorders are not only about eating, but emotion and shame. They also are about stigma. There is a certain stereotype that people who have eating disorders could be known as “losers”. With that, people don’t want to accept the fact they have one and go to get treatment. She believes that psychological and social attitudes have an influence but it is the “hidden biological mechanisms” that are to blame. In this way, biology and psychology become interconnected. There are “predisposing factors” that are determined by genes, such as vulnerability and body weight. Genetics also contribute to psychological personality features. That is why there is no particular medicine to treat. This argument is questioned because if it was a genetic, why were their no signs of this in the adolescent life? Iiona believes that these genes are hidden until triggering factors. Those triggering factors could be dissatisfaction with the body or societal influences, which brings this full circle only with the genetics being the cause behind it all. This becomes almost impossible to treat because the longer you maintain the factors, the harder it makes them to go away.

Eating disorders are a nationwide issue, meaning not only women are affected by them but men as well, although it is more common for a woman to have one. You don’t hear many cases of men with eating disorders because they have become stigmatized for coming forward or don’t believe they could have one. Several factors lead to males being undiagnosed. “Men can face a stigma, for having a disorder characterized as feminine or gay and for seeking psychological help.” Just like women, men have certain body expectations as well. Many also feel pressure to uphold the expectation and turn to drastic measures in order to meet these wants. In an important article written by a scientist Richard Morton in 1689, he expresses that most research, treatment and description is based on females. This pushes men away from the realization that they need to get help and treatment as well. Morton believed that removing the stigmas that come along with men having an eating disorder, will help get them the treatment they need. This is crucial because men’s treatment may differ from a woman’s. Dr. Theodore Weltzin, a medical director at an eating disorder hospital stated the importance of having a specific institution for men. “Males in treatment can feel out of place when predominantly surrounded by females”. Dr. Sabel, a worker at the University of Michigan department of surgery, also stated that men who are effected with anorexia can exhibit low levels of testosterone and vitamin D. This differs highly from women because with men Testosterone supplement is recommended. 

There are so many people in the world suffering from eating disorders. With all those people, half of them aren’t receiving any type of help. I blame the fact that people are not aware of eating disorders and that it is considered a “taboo” to talk about them. Regardless of how we get eating disorders or if we can treat them, we all need to be aware of them and how they operate. Society needs to come together and put a stop to the stigmas that come along with issues we as people have. People with eating disorders or really any type of disorder, need our support and if we can stop shaming them and instead help them, we as a country can save lives. It brings me hope that companies as big as American Eagle are noticing these issues and helping advertise it. We have an opportunity to treat these disorders better than institutions can.

 As I reflect on my beginning statement maybe it is a good thing its normal to see people recovering from eating disorders on social media. The more normal it becomes, the less of a stigma and taboo it is for the struggling people. Eating disorders are whole different story, but not all these stories have to have a bad ending. 
