Eating disorders are well known and exist mostly among teenage girls but the public probably doesn’t realize that there are many boys who suffer from Anorexia Nervosa or Bulimia Nervosa or Binge eating as well. However, the incidence rate of either disease is about 10 times more common in females than males (F., and E. 295-319). Research on eating disorders tends to focus more on Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia but over eating is considered an eating disorder as well. It is shown that the number of cases for eat disorders had risen about 50 % from 1940 to 1990 (F., and E. 295-319). Eating disorders can lead to serious medical conditions including a “disturbance in the levels of potassium, sodium, calcium”, cardiac arrest, kidney failure, drop in temperature and blood pressure and even death. (F., and E. 295-319) An example can be found in the story of Christy Heinrich who suffered from anorexia nervosa and died because of organ failure. Many teens are using eating disorders to try to look their best and become more attractive and with the consequences including death there has to be a stop to this problem through interventions.
Psychological intervention is necessary to improve the psychological health of all mental patients. It is the support that a person receives in order to get the help they need, it can include medical treatment, support groups, self help, psychological treatment etc. The question is and always will be what works best? The best answer is that everybody needs a different intervention. Some people need to make the choice to get better on their own and others need someone to tell them they are loved and supported through the recovery process. Some patients need cognitive behavior therapy and other need interpersonal therapy, everyone is different. When looking at psychological interventions and eating disorders one study looked at the effect of “an intervention of body image disturbance by employing short educational messages (McSweeney 677). This was a web based study that, with the consent of participants, sent magazine images and asked the participants to fill out a questionnaire “measuring ideal female body size, and body satisfaction” (McSweeney 677). This study did several different surveys for different hypotheses they had but overall they found a common ground that with appropriate magazine photos the girls rated an ideal body image to be larger than before the pictures. This study shows that ideal body image plays a huge part in developing an eating disorder in order to be more like the girls that teens see in magazines. So, this could be a useful intervention not only for someone who has developed an eating disorder and even a distorted body image but it can be used as a prevention intervention for teens.
In another study that looked at the prevention intervention method to treat eating disorders. This study used the interview method for 877 8th grade girls and this was a longitude study that lasted 4 years (Beckerstoll 599). It was found that there is a link between weight concerns and the development of eating disorders. It can also be quoted in saying “both clinicians and researchers have called for public education and early interventions to prevent the development of disordered eating behaviors” (Beckerstoll 599). Intervention and preventing are extremely important here and may be the key to stopping eating disorders. In one final study of obesity among adolescents it was found that one intervention called “Student Bodies” with is a internet-based cognitive behavioral program had a high success rate of no symptoms of an eating disorder after the group and no one in the group developed an eating disorder as opposed to the control group which had several teens who did (Rousch 46). This research just shows that there needs to be an intervention, of any kind, in order for there to be success.
It can be concluded, first of all, that eating disorders are a problem and some types, such as obesity, aren’t given enough research to help find solutions. Second, the use of prevention is definitely important and has a high success rate in decreasing the incidence rates of all eating disorders. Third, there can be no healing from any disorder without the use of interventions, be it psychological or medical or behavioral. It is important for all patients to work with their doctors to find out what intervention is best for them because without intervention there is no recovery. It is important for the public to understand that eating disorders aren’t just for models to stay extra thin, they are very much alive in the middle and high schools and they are a mental disorder. I think that the public doesn’t quite understand how serious these disorders can be and probably don’t know that there have been multiple cases of death because of eating disorders. I also think that professionals need to address, or even report, any patient that may show signs of an eating disorder because sometimes a person suffering from the disorder may just want someone to notice them. Many people suffering from eating disorders are ashamed and will not seek help themselves and it is important for any professional to try their best to get their patients the help they need. I also think that professionals should educate themselves, even a little bit, on eating disorders and even interventions. As for health psychologists, they need to continue any research they can to better understand this disorder and any and all interventions they can be useful. It is important to understand the tie between the psychological, behavioral, sociological, and even medical parts of this mental illness. I recommend that society should continue to educate themselves about this and all mental disorders so maybe we can be more accepting and looking forward toward healthy goals and recovery for all mental health patients.
This picture represents the Distorted Body Image phenomenon in which a person sees themselves as being a lot bigger than they really are. http://thebypassedlife.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/eating-disorder.jpg
PDFs (in order as the appeared in the blog):
Beckerstoll, . " ATTACHMENT REPRESENTATION AND THERAPEUTIC INTERVENTION IN EATING DISORDERS." Journal of Psychosomatic Research . 56.6 (2004): 599. Print.
Brannon, Linda, and Jess Feist. Health Psychology: An Introduction to Behavior and Health. 7th. Wadsworth Pub Co, 2009. 399-409. Print.
F., Thomas, and Robert E. Abnormal Psychology. sixth. Pearson College Div, 2009. 295-319. Print.
McSweeney, J. "Intervention of Eating Disorder Symptomatology Using Educational Communication Messages." Communication Research. 36.5 (2009): 677. Print.
Rousch, K. "An Internet-based cognitive-behavioral intervention targets eating disorders." American Journal of Nursing. 107.2 (2007): 46. Print.
