Body Image and Eating Disorders in Adolescence
Child and Adolescent Psychology:
Body Image and Eating Disorders In Adolescence
Alyssa Tremblay
Professor Stanford-Pollock
December 1, 2011
One of the main concerns in teens with poor body image or low self-esteem is eating disorders. There are four major types of eating disorders, which include anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, binge eating disorder, and EDNOS.
Anorexia nervosa is statistically most common in white or Hispanic girls between the ages of 15 and 23. Although, studies recently have shown that anorexia nervosa is becoming more and more common around an even younger crowd. Anorexia nervosa is disease where people have a distorted image of themselves. This means that even when someone is abnormally thin, they see them self as being overweight when they look in the mirror.
Anorexics are often very thin and unhealthy and feel extreme fear or guilt when they eat food. The shrinking of the stomach that is caused by eating so little also causes bloating whenever an anorexic person does eat. This is another contributor to why someone with anorexia feels so fat and guilty after a meal. People with anorexia nervosa typically refuse to eat most of the time (and if they do, they consume very little), exercise often, and develop a variety of other strange habits. This lack of eating and incessant exercising causes an abnormal heart rate, low body temperature, low blood pressure, increase in the likelihood of getting cavities, and electrolyte imbalance. Many anorexics can be identified by the fine hairs covering their bodies, pale skin, and brittle hair and nails. Anorexia also can potentially cause kidney infections or failure, and women to stop getting their periods.
In severe cases of anorexia, it is sometimes necessary for the person to be hospitalized. Sometimes depression medication or obsessive-compulsive medication is prescribed in order to treat the psychological reasons that drive a person to become anorexic. Proper treatment,
Body Image and Eating Disorders In Adolescence
Alyssa Tremblay
Professor Stanford-Pollock
December 1, 2011
One of the main concerns in teens with poor body image or low self-esteem is eating disorders. There are four major types of eating disorders, which include anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, binge eating disorder, and EDNOS.
Anorexia nervosa is statistically most common in white or Hispanic girls between the ages of 15 and 23. Although, studies recently have shown that anorexia nervosa is becoming more and more common around an even younger crowd. Anorexia nervosa is disease where people have a distorted image of themselves. This means that even when someone is abnormally thin, they see them self as being overweight when they look in the mirror.
Anorexics are often very thin and unhealthy and feel extreme fear or guilt when they eat food. The shrinking of the stomach that is caused by eating so little also causes bloating whenever an anorexic person does eat. This is another contributor to why someone with anorexia feels so fat and guilty after a meal. People with anorexia nervosa typically refuse to eat most of the time (and if they do, they consume very little), exercise often, and develop a variety of other strange habits. This lack of eating and incessant exercising causes an abnormal heart rate, low body temperature, low blood pressure, increase in the likelihood of getting cavities, and electrolyte imbalance. Many anorexics can be identified by the fine hairs covering their bodies, pale skin, and brittle hair and nails. Anorexia also can potentially cause kidney infections or failure, and women to stop getting their periods.
In severe cases of anorexia, it is sometimes necessary for the person to be hospitalized. Sometimes depression medication or obsessive-compulsive medication is prescribed in order to treat the psychological reasons that drive a person to become anorexic. Proper treatment,
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