For centuries now, eating disorders have been an issue amongst everybody. More recently though, eating disorders are becoming an even more common situation for young adults. One eating disorder in particular is Anorexia Nervosa. Anorexia Nervosa is an eating disorder characterized by weight loss, struggle to maintain appropriate body weight for height, age, and stature, and a distorted body image of their self. People suffering from anorexia restrict the number of calories they intake and the types of food they eat. Anorexia is most common among young women, but can also affect males. Eating disorders are still an unresolved issue amongst us. There needs to be more action taken to help prevent these disorders from happening. What is the cause of these disorders, people are asking? Many say that celebrities and the media have been having a huge effect on young adults. Social media images of recognizable celebrities have an impact for why young teens are developing an eating disorder. The media represents a world of upper class individuals who are looked up to as idols, and that can be both a positive and negative influence on certain people. There have been recent studies to prove that this, in fact is the case. The media constantly shows an almost unattainable and unrealistic image of beauty through an influx of images and messages, that has been known to be linked to eating disorders and body disfiguration, mostly among girls but can also be seen in boys.

Anorexia nervosa and obsessive-compulsive disorder have been thought to be related to each other. In 1939, the term “anorexia nervosa” was referred to as “compulsion neurosis” and then later known as “compulsion cachexia” (Kasvikis and Tsakiris 1070). Recently anorexia nervosa and bulimia have been studied as signs of an obsessive-compulsive disorder influenced by social factors. According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary, anorexia is defined as “a serious physical and emotional illness in which an abnormal fear of being fat leads to very poor eating habits and dangerous weight loss.” Anorexia is a result from the individual’s family, biological vulnerability, psychological predisposition and social climate. Society does not realize how serious an eating disorder like anorexia is. According to Anorexia Nervosa and Related Eating Disorders, Inc., without treatment up to 20% of people suffering from serious eating disorders die. With treatment 2-3% of those suffering will die. Of those who receive treatment, 60% will make a full recovery, meaning that they will never have any eating disorder related thoughts or behaviors. The problem in society recently regarding anorexia, has been an increase in this disease amongst young teens who are looking at media images on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest (etc.) and wanting to be like the celebrities who they idolize. 

Anorexia affects many young adults who are at the point where they are trying to find themselves and change the way they look for a sign of approval from the rest of society. People who are affected by this disease are highly influenced by the celebrities on the cover of magazines and who their favorite actor/actress is in their favorite show or movie. People strive to be healthy and be in good shape, but some look past the line of being in good healthy shape for their size, age, and height and keep going until it is too late. Currently, media images flaunt the celebrities that have the best body on the cover of magazines and other social media, that is seen by the billions of people in the world that may look at that and say “that is what I need to look like.” Electronic and print mass media can be accessed so easily that the development of an eating disorder can be targeted at all age groups and genders. The media is a way to show what is the newest and latest trends in society are. People who get so wrapped up into doing what is the coolest thing may not realize that it can have such a big influence on them that it ruins their health and they are going to end up suffering from a very dangerous health issue. Media reflects celebrities lives that epitomize a life of wealth and status. 

Social media has a strong influence on society and the development of an eating disorder. Studies of celebrity culture shows that celebrities represent socially valued qualities, including admiration, popularity and status. Many young people form attachments to similar age celebrities and say that they have an influence on their behavior (Shorter). One study that was done was on a university campus that asked 159 females to fill out a questionnaire that asked the participants to write down the name of a celebrity “of your gender and about your age whom you admire.” Then the participants had to choose an image that they felt was closest to themselves, their favored celebrity and “the body shape you would like to be.” The experimenters did all different calculations to find out which participants were at risk for an eating disorder. In conclusion, the experiment showed that people are willing to take part in unhealthy behaviors to be accepted into society (Shorter). This experiment in particular proved that favorable celebrities and media content have an influence on eating disorder cognitions and behavior. Another article in Time Magazine, referred to social media becoming a “toxic mirror” (Simmons). Simmons talked about psychologists finding a correlation between social media use and body image concerns, dieting and a strive for thinness. There are also websites called “pro-ana (anorexic) websites.” These websites are for people who are promoting the behaviors related to eating disorders. These websites often encourage something called “thinspiration,” pictures of celebrities who may be naturally skinny to emaciated (Elad and Boyd). There are so many different ways for people to be influenced by society and culture to develop an eating disorder with all the technology that is available today.

There are debates on what causes anorexia nervosa in an individual. Currently, there are three different theoretical models that can be used to generally explain the development behind this deadly disease. Biomedical, psychological, or the cultural model (Brumberg). The biomedical model discusses that anorexia can be developed due to a number of endocrinological and neurological deformities, such as hormonal imbalance, dysfunction in the hypothalamus, and lesions in the limbic system part of the brain. Most recently the National Institutes of Health stated that patients who are suffering from depression or anorexia nervosa both over-secrete CRH (Bruhmberg). The psychological model divides into three separate categories: psychoanalysis, family systems theory, and social psychology. Anorexia is seen as a response due to developmental crisis of adolescence in the first two categories. Anorexia is also said to be a dependence disorder, or an “addiction to starvation.” The last explanation is the cultural model. This is the most popular explanation for the cause of anorexia nervosa. The cultural model is explained to be the effect of social class and the desire to be thin based on media.  “The modern visual media fuel the preoccupation with female thinness and serve as the primary stimulus for anorexia nervosa” (Bruhmberg). The author explains here, how media is what sparks the beginning of a life threatening disease. The cultural model shows how, what is socially accepted by society can have a huge impact on an individual’s life just because they started to try something they thought would make them fit in with everyone else. All three of these theoretical models have some influence on the reasoning of why anorexia nervosa is developed in certain people. Although there are certain biological and psychological factors, the cultural influence is most likely to be the bigger threat in acquiring an eating disorder because it can be easily accessed and plays a big role in our everyday lives. 

Studies by psychologists, Susan and Orlando Wooley, and Judith Rodin confirmed that weight is a woman’s “normative obsession” (Bruhmberg). Meaning, that women are always thinking about their weight, which can be an influential factor towards the development of an eating disorder. It is particularly important to women of an upper class status. One notorious individual, the Duchess of Windsor, said “A woman can never be too rich or too thin” (Bruhmberg). The Duchess of Windsor is one example of a recognizable individual that has the power to influence thousands of young adults to take the path of developing anorexia because people listen to those of higher class and especially those of royalty. A study held by Stanford University psychologist, Sanford M. Dornbusch proved that there is a positive correlation between gender, social class, and the aspiration to be thin (Bruhmberg). This experiment shows that it is in fact true that those of higher status are more likely to be concerned with weight and the desire to look good, which then is reflected onto the lower class individuals who will take after those who are more socially valued. This example shows that famous individuals and the media have a big influence on young adults having a higher risk of developing an eating disorder. 

Society as a whole is very involved with putting everything online and in the media. This can be a good thing at times but also can have a negative impact on people. Suffering from anorexia nervosa is a serious disease and is a long and difficult recovery, if you are even strong enough to come back from suffering from any eating disorder. Many individuals will be hospitalized from having anorexia. Although two-thirds of those patients that have been hospitalized will return to normal weight, at least fifty percent of those patients will continue to have an eating disorder and show symptoms of “social and psychiatric impairment” (Bruhmberg). First step at trying to recover from anorexia is for the patient to admit they have a problem and face reality. After doing that the patient needs to be comfortable to talk to other people about it because they will only want to help you. Talking to other people about having this disease will help the patient find a support team. On the road to recovery, highly suggested steps to take would be to go to a group therapy or even individual if the patient is not comfortable talking about their problem with other people they do not know. Also to go to a nutritionist and they can help say what is the right and wrong thing to be eating. If the patient is suffering from a more serious case of anorexia, residential treatment is recommended (Smith and Segal). One example in history that was taken to spread awareness of anorexia nervosa and other eating disorders, was in May 1986. Susie Orbach, a leader in the feminist therapy community organized a Speak-Out against eating disorders to a larger audience through the presentation of personal statements and testimonials (Bruhmberg). Speaking out to the public about eating disorders is a great way to get the society more aware of how dangerous and serious developing one of these diseases is. Finding solutions to help people suffering from anorexia is what needs to be achieved to help stop more people from developing an eating disorder as well. 

Eating disorders are a serious issue amongst this generation, and there needs to be more ways to help the individuals who are suffering. Social media and celebrities are a big influence on young adult’s development of anorexia, but society is based off of finding out everything occurring in the world through electronic and print media, that it could never be stopped. Other solutions need to be proposed to help people that are already suffering from anorexia and other eating disorders. Some solutions that can be taken could be to talk to other individual’s that have been going through the same situation as well. One of the first goal’s in a patients’ mind, and the people that are supporting the patient minds should be to gain weight. This is definitely easier said than done, but it is the first step toward a recovery that the patient needs to realize will be worth it in the end. Another solution to help an individual that has anorexia, should be determination to get passed this disease. The recovery process of any eating disorder is a long time. There is no one cure, and some of the steps that need to be taken to recovery can be expensive and tedious. The patient needs to be willing to go through with the recovery process with the intention of becoming healthy again. There are many different treatment options that a patient can take depending on their doctors, therapist, insurance and family. After going through with all the steps of recovery the patient will be healthier and not at risk of any more heart problems or other fatal issues that can progress in the body. 

Social media and favorable celebrities show an unrealistic view of beauty and body image that people aspire to look like one day, but has also been known to lead to the development of an eating disorder. Anorexia nervosa is the most common eating disorder to develop among young adults. It is defined as being a serious physical and emotional illness in which abnormal fear of being fat leads to very poor eating habits and dangerous weight loss (Merriam-Webster Dictionary). Anorexia nervosa has been increased amongst young adults who are being influenced by the media and their favorite celebrities. Social media is one of the most influential factors for this generations behavior. With the increase in technology, this generation is growing up being dependent on it which can negatively impact their health. There are multiple health problems that can develop from being addicted to social media but one that is currently taking over some individual’s lives is anorexia. Electronically and printed media images of notorious individuals and the way they are portrayed has been a huge influence on the issue of developing an eating disorder. Many individuals look up to their favorite actor/actress, model or celebrity. Some people form an attachment to similar aged celebrities, and say that they want to look like them. Celebrities in 2017, are portrayed as being skinny, and most likely an unrealistic image of beauty. The media and favorable celebrities have a big impact on young adults developing an eating disorder. Many studies have shown that this is in fact true. There are steps that can be taken to help someone with this eating disorder, and help them become healthy again. Being there for the individual who has an eating disorder is one of the biggest steps in helping them in recovery. Taking the patient to therapy and a nutritionist will also help the individual get back to a healthier lifestyle. Anorexia nervosa is not just a physically draining disease but it is also emotionally and psychologically draining as well. Anyone suffering from anorexia needs support to help them get back to being healthy. Anorexia nervosa, amongst other eating disorders is highly influenced by social media and celebrities.
