Anorexia In The 1980s

Anorexia of The 1980’s, Peace, Love, and Eating Disorders The 1980’s were a time of recovery for the United States, it was exactly five years after the Vietnamese war, and more importantly a time of economic up-swing for the United States. The last thing the country could think about, was why exactly many young women of that time were suffering extreme weight loss, so much to the point it was causing severe starvation and more often than not, death among many girls. That being said, the country had its hands full during that time establishing new policies to insure that America had a good future ahead of it, obviously having a difficult time tackling the causes of what exactly incurred the strange affliction known as anorexia plaguing many
In the newspaper article “Anorexia, It’s Not a New Disease” the author states that anorexia; “Before the 1970’s most people had never heard of anorexia nervosa…which afflicts primarily teen-age girls and young women who diet to the point of near starvation, has received a great deal of attention, creating the impression that it is a new phenomenon.” (Lawson, 1985). The idea of young women starving themselves to the point of near starvation was such a bizarre and frightening concept that many people of the 1980’s had no idea how to even begin to handle it. Most people just assumed it was a new mental illness based on the fact that it had gained so much popularity recently, however this was not the case. The same article also stated that; “The disorder was given its name in 1873 by a British physician, Sir William Withey Gull, who took care of Queen Victoria and her family… Physicians in the United States and France also reported seeing anorexia nervosa around the same time.” (Lawson, 1985). Despite the fact that this illness was not a new phenomenon, people of the 1980’s era were not educated on the basics of the illness, meaning they had virtually no idea how to handle the issue plaguing many young women of that
During the 80’s, people were still under some level of disbelief that such a thing as mental illness could have such a strong effect on the lives of so many and such a severe one at that. Most people thought that illnesses were medical at their root, and because of this ideology most ended up trying to treat what was obviously a mental illness with medical “cures” first. An article from the Los Angeles Times addressed this kind of treatment. A doctor who had a “fair amount” of success in treating bulimics stated, “With the help of medication, some bulimia patients can satiate their carbohydrate urges with normal amounts.” (Arnold,