FREE ESSAY ON BEAUTY AND THE BEAST: ANOREXIA

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST: ANOREXIA

Julie Mallon
Psychology 310 
Beauty and the Beast : Anorexia
It seemed to me that the older I got, the more obsessed people seemed about their bodies.
Whether it was the diet soda boom of the 80's, or the fact everyone has always been
unhappy with his or her natural bodies; it just took me a while to comprehend. It always
seemed like there were diets here, diets there; these drugs can do this, or these herbs
can do that... Stop the insanity! This paper is going to discuss anorexia nervosa, an
alarming disease that is usually developed during puberty of both boys and girls. Like
bulimia, in which the subject binges and then disposes of ingested food by purging or use
of laxatives, those suffering anorexia nervosa have an obsession with the amount of fat
on her body (although one of every ten suffering this disease are male, I will use the
female pronoun since they are the majority). This results in the loss of appetite
completely and dangerous weight loss. 
More than thirty years ago one of this century's major sex symbols sang, Happy Birthday,
Mr. President, on television. 
With her size fourteen to sixteen figure, it is doubtful that society's standards would
approve Marilyn Monroe today. Back in those days men and women alike ate what tasted good
or what the body needed and simply bought clothes that would hide any unwanted weight
gain. Today the story is different. Psychologists that study the influence of television
on children say that television is the most influential medium in our visually orientated
society (Velette, 1988, p.3). With the influence of television and celebrity role models,
children don't care that they see a variety of sizes outside of their home, what they
care about are the majority of people shown on the television set, perfect. Teenagers
have typically watched 15,000 hours of television in their lifetime (Valette, 1988, p.4),
absorbing the opinions on the shows or the commercials burning into their retinas. The
message transmitted: To be successful, beautiful, popular, and loved you must be thin,
you must be thin, you must be THIN. After a lifetime of hearing this message over and
over and over again, children may not think there is any reason to be happy with what
they are and feel thinness is the ultimate goal to be happy and accepted by others. As a
result, some children may skip breakfast, eat a little for lunch, or even adopt some form
of diet. This may only last for a week or so, but for others, the obsession of thinness
is higher and the price they pay is frightening. This paper is going to discuss the
cycles of anorexia nervosa. It will detail the symptoms, behavior, and clinical
observations. It will describe the possible causes of anorexia nervosa through childhood
growth and puberty, childhood eating and social behavior, and the maturation of children
during puberty. Finally, I will discuss the treatment and results of treatment for
anorexia nervosa. 
Before diving into the details of anorexia nervosa, there are a few individual traits
that may appear in a person that may have an eating disorder: low self-esteem, feelings
of ineffectiveness or perfectionism, issues of control, and fear of maturation. The more
physical description is chilling. The anorectic victim does not look thin as society's
standards 
portray, but are in fact a walking skeleton with the absence of subcutaneous fat. Her
weight may range from as little as 56-70 pounds or 77-91 pounds. Though clothes are
likely to cover most of her figure, her face appears gaunt and her skin is cold and red
or blue in color. Do to the lack of fat in her body, her menstrual cycle is likely to
have ceased. Despite these conditions, she still sees herself overweight and thus
unacceptable. Thinness is idealism and perfection. It is her independent choice that no
one else can take away from her. 
At the beginning of anorexia nervosa the subject will first change her diet, restricting
how much she eats and usually cutting out starchy foods. Seventy-percent of a particular
study claimed they were simply dieting. The rest used excuses of abdominal pain,
difficulty swallowing, or simply a lack of appetite (Dally, 1979, p.14). Those dieting
had innocent intentions at first, even the approval of family members or peers, but as
they reached their target weight the dieting did not slow down. In some cases it only
became more intense. 
Hunger does not just disappear into thin air. There is a long and hard battle against
stomach pains, sometimes resulting in lapses. However, the guilt or disgust felt from
giving into the temptation of food results in more willpower for resisting food in the
future. The process of eliminating hunger usually takes up to a year (Dally, 1979, p.14).
Sometimes hunger cannot be ignored. The girl will think about food all day long as if in
pleasure. Ritualistically, she'll eat very slowly, savoring each bite of food that is cut
into small pieces. She will insist on cooking food for herself and sometimes preferring
to eat only alone, where she can enjoy her food without feeling self-conscious. Another
approach towards hunger is indirect satisfaction by reading cookbooks, reading about
healthy foods and ways to eat, cooking for others, or just watching others eat. Though an
anorectic avoids fattening foods by all costs, oddly they enjoy cooking fattening feasts
for family members to enjoy and are even offended if any food is not eaten. 
A majority of anorectic patients are above average in intelligence, physically
attractive, and of the upper class. They have low self-esteems and strive for perfection.
The family they come from usually tends to be weight-conscious, such as a mother that is
always on diet plans, and somewhat controlling over the daughter's life. Although there
are two types of anorexia nervosa, primary and secondary, primary anorexia nervosa is the
most common, and the type being discussed in this paper. Secondary anorexia nervosa is
developed adults of average intelligence and of middle or lower class. Primary anorexia
nervosa is developed during puberty between the ages of 11 and 18 and usually by females.
Only one of every 10 anorexia nervosa patients are male. 
Childhood is a very sensitive time period for all human beings. The brain is developing
while the body grows. Morals and knowledge are being absorbed by daily activity and
outside influences. It is this time that a danger zone may develop, negative behaviors
are adapted and cannot be stopped. There is no overall difference between the childhood
growth of a normal child or the childhood growth of an anorectic. Most likely they were
skinny but had a high fatness and height growth rate before their peers. As a result,
during puberty the subject may be more sensitive about her appearance. 
Recalling past experiences from anorectic patients is difficult because these patients
already have an exaggerated perspective of themselves and are likely to exaggerate what
they went through as children. Through the careful recollection of families, however, a
more likely picture of a soon-to-be-anorectic child can be drawn. As a child, anorectics
are described as tomboys that shared interests with her father such as sports and
watching football. They are described as obedient children that never wanted to grow up
(Crisp, 1980, p.48). 
Maturation in puberty develops anxiety in most girls. The first step for females in
puberty is the development of breasts, leading to embarrassment and the feeling of
fatness. Other changes happen that are very undesired such as the thickening of the
stomach and thighs and menstruation. Girls tend to take these natural changes as changes
happening to them instead of a natural process that happens to all females. They develop
distorted images of their bodies, such as a little potbelly as looking pregnant, or
breasts that are bigger than those of their mothers. Some of these girls get over these
self-conscious thoughts while others become obsessively preoccupied. 
The first step of treatment for anorexia nervosa is for family members or loved ones to
step in and take her to get serious help. Most doctors and psychologists suggest that the
subject be separated from her family. A family or an inexperienced therapist may allow
the anorectic to promise and thus procrastinate the process of healing, resulting in no
real physical or mental healing (Dally, 1979, p.106). 
After being admitted into treatment starts the difficult process of healing involving
psychiatrists, physicians, nurses, and dieticians. 
The first goal of treatment is to determine a target weight for the patient by figuring
out the average height and weight of their age set and to reach approximately 90% of that
ideal weight. The reasons it is important to gain back the weight before psychological
treatment is because anorexia nervosa brings a halt to physical and psychological
maturation as well as emotional development when it is most important. There are two
major ways in which therapists approach feeding. The more passive technique is to give
the patient the food she must eat but allowing her to consume it at her own pace. The
side effects of this is that lack of patience a nurse may cause some disturbance and
frustration, for sometimes the subject may not even finish her meal before it is time for
her next one. The second approach is much more aggressive. In this approach, tube feeding
is forced if the patient refuses to eat, resulting in much more rapid weight gain. In
both techniques, the more the patient cooperates and recovers, the more freedom and
visitors they are permitted. However, when a patient is difficult, she will be restrained
to her bed and tube fed until she eats regularly. 
The next step is cognitive treatment, also known as the Interview. In this step the
therapist can really build a case on the patient and listen to her story. Questions will
be asked about what she thinks of her body, usually with negative results. On the other
hand, when asked about another anorectic with the same weight and height, the subject
studied will comment on how she is too thin. She will also be asked questions such as,
What worst thing that could happen if you ate more? Questions like these may bring a
reality into the anorectic's mind after similar questions are brought up to think about
(Long, 1992). 
Once both weight and clear thinking is resolved, the patient is ready to return home.
Like alcoholics and other substance abusers, once freedom is allowed, chances of relapse
are possible. The therapist must make sure the patient is self-disciplined with lifetime
goals by resolving any emotional conflicts that may lead the patient back to her previous
lifestyle for satisfaction. It is also important for the family of the anorectic to
attend family therapy as well, to get over being too protective or in denial of any
conflicts and to approach the problem of their daughter or son in a different fashion.
The support of peers and family are very important for the anorectic so not to return to
the self-satisfying lifestyle of pursuing a perfect weight. 
Anorexia nervosa is a frightening disease for the families and for society to deal with.
As social animals, the signals sent out by the people around us and the media tell us
that if we want to be happy, successful, or loved we need to be thin and beautiful. When
we were children our mom would be talking on the phone to a friend, I think Jennifer
could date Mike easily if she just lost 15 pounds. Almost every female is envious of
another and unhappy with the body that she is blessed to have. Being skinny has been
pounded into our minds since the day we develop self-esteem by those depicted on
television and the natural need to feel desired or accepted by others. When I was in high
school I was always self-conscious about how others viewed my physical appearance. I
would compare my body to that of other girls in the class. I went on varying diets, from
eating healthier food to crash diets. It was a ridiculous mindset when I look back upon
it. It wasn't until my last year of high school that I decided that I was happy with my
appearance and did not need to be preoccupied by what others thought of me or what the
media told me I should be. What was frightening to me was learning in health class about
anorexia and bulimia and in the back of my mind thinking of those ruinous lifestyles as
future alternatives. Afterwards, I thought about how many other girls in that class, or
that has seen that video, were thinking the same thing and possibly acting upon these
thoughts. 
What can parents and peers do about this problem? With 1 out of every 500 teenage girls
suffering this disease, I believe parents and teachers should be educated about the
subject, this way as soon as symptoms become apparent, intervention occurs before major
growing or developing problems may occur. We cannot change society's general view of what
perfection is, or expect influences to consider what it has done to the self-esteem of
our children. However, we can influence the way our children view weight and physical
appearance by teaching them how to accept who they are. This may be accomplished by
explaining the natural changes in their bodies during puberty and offering healthy
approaches towards building self-confidence such as activities that do not revolve around
physical ability or appearance. Children cannot help but absorb the world around them, it
is our duty as adults to help them filter out what may lead to self-destruction. 
Bibliography
Banks, Tyra. (1998). Tyra's beauty: inside and out. New York. Harper Pernnial. 
Berk, Laura E. (1997). Child development. Boston. Allen and Bacon. 
Crisp, A.H. (1980). Anorexia nervosa: let me be. London. Academic Press Inc. 
Dally, Peter and Gomez, Joan. (1979). Anorexia nervosa. London. William Heinemann Medical
Books Ltd. 
Long, Phillip W. (1997). Eating disorders. Harvard Mental Health Letter, 9. 47
paragraphs. [Online]. Available at http://www.mentalhealth.com/mag1/p5h-et03.html [1999,
March 1]. 
Valette, Brett. (1988). A parent's guide to eating disorders. New York. Walker