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Disorderly Distressed: A View of Universities and Eating Disorders Kerri A. Mcgann Arizona State University at West

DISORDERLY DISTRESSED Title: Disorderly Distressed: A View of Universities and Eating Disorders Student: Kerri McGann Faculty Sponsors: Marni Troop & Michael Stancliff Summary:

Students at the collegiate level are immersed into stress even prior to selecting the school of their choice at the pre-college academic level. One can only imagine the affects and pressures this places on young men and women. An eating disorder can take on many identities, it can mask stress and become a coping mechanism, aid to pre-existing societal pressures, tag along with depression, and can even slip beneath the radar of the individual and be unrecognizable outwardly. Misconceptions of this illness include numerous aspects; for instance, anorexia nervosa is only one of copious types of this condition. The phrase eating disorders encompasses many different manifestations among the umbrella term are the following; compulsive eating disorder, compulsive exercising, binge eating, and bulimia; these are just some of the many.

Purpose: The purpose of this work is to examine the negative effects of distress on students and attempt to capture the manner in which these elements can lead to eating disorders. This work is also intended to spread awareness of stress disorders and highlight organizational research of organizations like NEDA among other organizations and who is effected specifically by this illness.

Background: I have previously conducted research in this general subject area; however, the research that was demonstrated was more focused on the effects of pop culture and society on adolescents

DISORDERLY DISTRESSED with eating disorders, as opposed to academic and other university stresses on young adults. Relating on a more personal level, I am recovering from formerly having an eating disorder and am eager to continue to research in this area so as to encourage and reshape the minds of other victims and preventing individuals from developing such a magnificently devastating coping mechanism in the future. It is my ultimate hope to one day conduct a TED talk based around the manifestations in the form of anorexia nervosa and bulimia; I want to gain an abundance of knowledge in order to be an extremely credible source somewhere down the line. After almost three years of studying eating disorders and behaviors of depression, I am still gathering interest in new areas of the effects of [insert aspect here] on the behavior of addicts, depressives, and individuals with eating disorders.

Significance: Students nationwide suffer with eating disorders that are amplified, if not directly caused by stresses placed on them throughout the collegiate experience. It is important to not only recognize these factors, but address how to handle stress in a healthier manner in order to perform at the highest rate of potential and to get the most of post-secondary education. Without acknowledgement, this issue could be easily overlooked and could ultimately lead to a decrease in success rates of students as well as health deficits and potentially fatalities. I have acquired some knowledge through readings in this area; however, I see this work as an opportunity to interact with individuals both inside and outside the world of a mental illness such as an eating disorder. I would like to experience first-hand responses to both shocking and common facts about eating disorders and incorporate these notions back into my research to provide the general public with both views of the spectrum. This will allow for an impartial view that will most

DISORDERLY DISTRESSED likely initially be offensive to my own experience in some ways, but will help to keep my audience intrigued while I enlighten them with the sometimes horrifying actuality of mental illness. I would like to capture the way in which most subjects view their own disorder as a characteristic of themselves rather than a detriment to their health.

Description: Conducting research to gather enough information to achieve the full means of extent desired within this question will require many different approaches. Ethnography, along with academic journals research that can be gathered from the library, observation, and interview would be the four major approaches that I would incorporate into my research. The most effective way to obtain qualitative research over an interpretive research inquiry would be to survey the people and directly note behavioral discrepancies. I will also need to include some statistics in order to back up my research and explain my sample sizes, etc.

Method: The first method I will use is ethnography within an experiment. The sample size of the experiment will consist of forty individuals. Of these forty, twenty will be university level students and twenty will be non-university level students; this is the cultural aspect of the groups. Of the forty, twenty of these individuals will have an eating disorder, this means that each of the ten of the sub groups will have an eating disorder. This allows for a control group within the experiment. Throughout the experiment, I will insert conflict into an area of the subjects life and see how they approach the situation. The conflict will be as simple as an assignment that is fifteen pages in length with a verbal presentation that must be completed in a forty-eight hour

DISORDERLY DISTRESSED period without assistance of others unless research based. The individuals will be faced with

distractions of friends and colleagues throughout the experiment as well as their daily tasks. This will allow for examination of excessive stress and pressure. Another method I will use to conduct research will be literature review and textual analyses. I plan to observe the scholarly journals of Princeton research, as well as the base understanding of organizations such as the National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA). Following these two methods, I will conduct interviews on those struggling with depression and other mental illnesses; I would also hope to interview recovering victims as to observe the difficulties at a collegiate level and how they overcome these issues. I plan to view video, incorporate personal experience as well as reading blogs to gather a pathos appeal. I would like to demonstrate the ethos perception of the illness which I will gather during interviews by asking questions such as How do you view your illness? and Do you think it is morally effective or right to be depriving yourself knowledgably of necessary nutrients for daily tasks? I have an intent to ask questions that evoke both a negative and positive response again to gather the behavioral aptness of the subject. I would like to see how an individual with an eating disorder will respond to a question with negative connotation attached as opposed to the response that a non-recovering and non-disorder individual would elicit. Post execution of the above methods, I will probe into the books of noted psychologist and behavioral scientists to tie addictive behaviors that develop as a means of adjustment and experimentation in college. I would like to investigate the perception of college students and how they interpret finding oneself and how it could possibly translate back to the depression, or how it may even translate directly into eating disorders as a means to be thin, fit, active, or overall physically appealing.

DISORDERLY DISTRESSED After conducting all of this research I plan to tie it all back to popular culture, societal pressure, stress, and standards of family members instilled into the minds of the effected at

young ages. I will combine all this information in an attempt to demonstrate preventative actions toward eating disorders as well as a possible reversal through reassurance of self-image and construal.

Limitations: Although this research seems thoroughly planned, there are always complications that concur with strategy. The limitations that must be considered are the restrictions of resources. The library may not have the books I am looking for or the information within that I hope to obtain. With this, my sample sizes may find ways to cheat within my experiment; I mean no offense with this statement, but it is a common theme to find scheme with addiction. When eating disorders are in full swing, they often become somewhat of a mental addiction much like aspects of smoking, drinking, etc. It becomes a routine that is difficult to break and with that, methods of achieving the desired become easier to hide from outsiders. The subjects of the experiment may also choose not to disclose themselves or volunteer for my work. I cannot identify eating disorders without the help of a professional and extremely personal insight into the life of the individual. I can easily be denied access due to the fact that I would be experimenting on a vulnerable person who wants not to publicize their illness. Finally, my research can be inconclusive. I could reach a point where my subjects are unwilling, or only partially participating in which case my room for error would to too excessive to share the results.

DISORDERLY DISTRESSED Bibliography: ANAD. (n.d.). Eating Disorders Statistics National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders. Retrieved November 20, 2013, from http://www.anad.org/getinformation/about-eating-disorders/eating-disordersstatistics/?gclid=COGSn5DMpbsCFYVlfgodRHEAZw Abrams, K. (n.d.). Disordered eating attitudes and behaviors, psychological adjustment, and ethnic identity: A comparison of black and white female college students. International journal of eating disorders. Retrieved November 20, 2013, from http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com.ezproxy1.lib.asu.edu/doi/10.1002/1098108X(199307)14:1%3C49::AID-EAT2260140107%3E3.0.CO;2-

Z/abstract;jsessionid=F500F9FC27F956D82A7AD181BBD9163B.f01t02?deniedAccessCustomi sedMessage=&userIsAuthenticated=false Collegiate Survey Project | National Eating Disorders Association. (n.d.).Collegiate Survey Project | National Eating Disorders Association. Retrieved November 21, 2013, from http://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/CollegiateSurveyProject Eating Disorders Princeton University Health Services. (n.d.). University Health Services Atom. Retrieved November 21, from http://www.princeton.edu/uhs/healthy-living/hottopics/eating-disorders/ Girardot, D. (2013, November 11). Check Up. Philly.com. Retrieved November 20, 2013, from http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/healthcare/Team-eating-disorder-treatment-approachspreading-among-college-campuses.html

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Grady, D. (1997, May 7). Efforts to Fight Eating Disorders May Backfire. The New York Times. Retrieved December 2, 2013, from http://www.nytimes.com/1997/05/07/us/efforts-tofight-eating-disorders-may-backfire.html