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... Withdraws into self, becoming socially isolated (Kirby 69). More than half of bulimics are severely depressed and often suffer from alcohol and drug abuse in addition to their eating problems. Unlike the anorexic, who is excessively thin, the bulimic is usually within a normal weight range, but his or her weight fluctuates (Kirby 70). While anorexia often begins in junior high, bulimia tends to develop in later adolescence. While anorexic girls are perfectionist and controlled, bulimic young women are impulsive and they experience themselves as chronically out of control (199 Pipher).
Bulimic women, like their anorexic sisters, are over socialized to the feminine role. They are the ultimate people pleaser's. Most are attractive, with good social skills (199 Pipher). Anorexic young women tend to be popular with the opposite sex. They epitomize our cultural definitions of feminine: thin, passive, weak and eager to please. Oftentimes young women report that they are complimented on their appearance right up until they are admitted to hospitals for emergency feeding (Pipher 205).
Beauty is a defining characteristic for American women (Pipher 216). In a city of strangers, appearance is the only dimension available for the rapid assessment of others. Thus it becomes incredibly important in defining value (Pipher 216). When unnatural thinness became attractive, girls did unnatural things to be thin (Pipher 217).
Unfortunately girls are not irrational to worry about their bodies. Looks do matter. Girls who are chubby or plain miss much of the American dream. The social desirability research is psychology documents our prejudices against the unattractive, particularly the obese, who are the social lepers of our culture (Pipher 217).
Young women with eating disorders are not at all different from their peers. Its a matter of degree. Almost all adolescent girls feel fat, worry about their weight, diet and feel guilty when they eat (Pipher 218). Psychologically, having quilt and shame are common symptoms among people with Bulimia.
Unlike anorexic people who put absolute control over restricted eating, bulimic people cannot control their eating. The physiological cause of Bulimia is still unclear. Psychologically, Bulimia is said to be linked to depression and anxiety, but clear evidence of causation has not yet been found. Cognitively, people with Bulimia are said to be motivated to escape from reality by binging. It is possible that those people were given food by their caretakers to lift their mood in their childhood.
Like Anorexia, cultural learning that one needs to be thin to be accepted may also contribute to the cause (Hara). A person may binge eat as a way to cope with stress and / or anxiety, or to fill an emotional void. It also might be due to legitimate hunger, if the person has previously been restricting food intake. This is why even people with anorexia may develop bulimic tendencies.
Subsequent "compensation" (throwing up, taking laxatives or diuretics, obsessive exercise) is sometimes a way to punish themselves for the binge, or as a way to assert control over themselves, especially since during a binge, they may feel out of control). Purging may also be "symbolic" of getting something bad out of their bodies. Abuse victims who were forced to perform oral sex on others are often bulimic. Although on the surface bulimia may appear to be all about food, it is mostly due to underlying issues (Bulimia Nervosa). Some people also think that it's "better" to have bulimia (as opposed to suffering from anorexia) because "at least they are still getting some nutrition" and "they " re still maintaining their weight. " Nothing could be further from the truth! Just because the consequences aren't always as obvious as those of anorexia; it doesn't make them any less severe.
For one thing, bulimics often binge on not-so-nutritious foods, which should throw that rationale right out the window. Second of all, not all people with bulimia maintain weight, but the binge / purge cycle usually causes very large fluctuations in weight that wreak havoc on the person's metabolism as well as their psyche (Bulimia Nervosa). Frequent purging can also do a tremendous amount of damage to a person's body: anything from electrolyte imbalance, to severe dehydration, to dental cavities, to gastric or esophageal rupture, to acid reflux and to heart failure. Bulimia is just as dangerous as anorexia or any other eating disorder. It could almost be argued that bulimia is actually more dangerous (Bulimia Nervosa). More beautiful people are more intelligent (Kanazawa & Kovar).
All of which is worth adhering to considering that research shows that beautiful people are more confident and more successful (The Technology of Beauty). Someone once described anorexia as 'screaming with your mouth closed', which is a rather apt description: for some of us, unable to vocalize or express our pains and anxieties in a more constructive manner, eating-disordered behavior becomes a surrogate mode of expression (An Introduction to Eating Disorders). Above all, disordered eating is a coping mechanism: Just as some people may turn to self-injury, drugs, alcohol and the like when faced with intolerable pressures, for some of us our way of coping is by either starving, or bingeing and purging (An Introduction to Eating Disorders). Anorectics are typically over-sensitive, perfectionist, rigid 'black and white thinkers', and usually above average intelligence. People with these traits seem to be particularly prone to the development of anorexia when subjected to an emotional 'trigger' (An Introduction to Eating Disorders).
Like anorexia, bulimia can kill. Even though bulimics put up a brave front, they are often depressed, lonely, ashamed, and empty inside. Friends may describe them as competent and fun to be with, but underneath, where they hide their guilty secrets, they are hurting. Feeling unworthy, they have great difficulty talking about their feelings, which almost always include anxiety, depression, self-doubt, and deeply buried anger. Impulse control may be a problem; e. g. , shoplifting, sexual adventurousness, alcohol and drug abuse, and other kinds of risk-taking behavior.
Person acts with little consideration of consequences (The Better Known Eating Disorders). Some symptoms of anorexia are the same as in starvation and severe weight loss. Anorexics may have dry skin, dry hair, hair loss and easily chipped fingernails, growth of body hair (lanugo), a severe drop in metabolic rate, disturbances in the heart's rhythm and rate, dangerously low blood pressure and body temperature, cold hands and feet, constipation and digestive problems, infertility, stunted growth in the young, and amenorrhea in women. Amenorrhea is defined as the absence of the menstrual period for three consecutive cycles. The danger of amenorrhea is the high increase in risk for thin, brittle bones (osteoporosis) and infertility. In severe anorexia, severe chemical imbalances result, and the progressive weakness of the heart muscle can lead to death (Chen, Amy).
Some symptoms of bulimia include electrolyte abnormalities that can lead to heart rhythm disturbances, dehydration, dangerously low blood pressure, menstrual cycle abnormalities, enlarged parotid glands, destruction of dental enamel and cavities, bad breath, bowel abnormalities, and sometimes ulcers and heart irregularities that can lead to death (Chen, Amy). Anorexia Nervosa. Refusal to maintain body weight. Intense fear of gaining weight Cognitive Distortions around weight. Amenorrhea. Types: Restricting (Eating Disorders).
Bulimia Nervosa. Recurrent episodes of binge eating. Inappropriate compensatory behavior in order to prevent weight gain (Eating Disorders). Works Cited An Introduction to Eating Disorders 2004.
The EDSHED Website. Dawnmist Studio. 19 September 2004. web Bulimia Nervosa: Violent Self-Contradiction Figure Skating Issues. 19 September 2004. web Chen, Amy. Eating Disorders: When Dieting Controls You 7 April 2002.
Supermarket Guru. 20 September 2004. web Eating Disorders 15 November 2002. UNC. 20 September 2004. web Hara, Takako. Hunger and Eating 1997. California State University, Northridge. 19 September 2004.
web Kanazawa, Sotashi & Kovar, Judy L. Why Beautiful People are More Intelligent 2004. Science Direct. 19 September 20004. web Kirby, Jane.
Dieting for Dummies. New York: Hungry Minds, Inc, 1998 Pipher, Mary. Reviving Ophelia. New York: Ballantine Books, 1994 The Better Known Eating Disorders ANRED. 2002.
Anorexia Nervosa and Related Eating Disorders, Inc. 20 September 2004. web The Technology of Beauty 2004. Digital Home. 19 September 2004. web
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