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Eating Disorders
Behaviors that violate the norms, usually relative to societal or cultural norms, are
suggested as abnormal behaviors, and are statistically rare. These behaviors stem from various
psychological and environmental abnormalities which may include different personality traits,
child maltreatment, social isolation, parental influence, peer pressure, and cultural pressure. An
important component of abnormal behaviors is their destructive ability and impairment of life
function. Eating disorders are examples of abnormal behavior, where a person develops unusual
eating habits that are not the norm and can be self-destructive (Defining Abnormal Behaviors).
Examples of eating disorders that lead to impairment of life function or morbidity include
Anorexia Nervosa (AN), Bulimia Nervosa (BN), Binging, and Purging.
Laurie, 16, lives in Florida and this is her story; I remember most of my childhood being
FAT. Yes, the dreaded "F" word that teachers let you say in school. Most of my life I was
tormented by other kids. I think I've heard all of the fat jokes. It got to the point that I was scared
to go to school. The kids were really mean. They actually HATED me because I was fat. I finally
got to a size 14 at age 11. I was 155 pounds and it was my last year in elementary school.
From there, Laurie got the courage to lose weight. She started eating healthier and did
some exercise. As she started losing weight she became more addicted to eating healthy and
exercising, eventually, practically starving herself and even losing her feelings of hunger. She
said she didnt have a taste for food anymore. She continued to lose weight and kept on
dropping sizes until she reached a size 00 and weighed 97 lbs. She didnt want to stop her habits
and always felt that she had more weight to lose. Her parents then forced her to go for counseling
and took her to a therapist who diagnosed her with Anorexia Nervosa. She was taken to the
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hospital and it was found that Lauries heartbeat was too slow and that she had developed
hypothermia from not having enough fat in her body, and she had deformities of malnutrition.
These diagnostics made Laurie fearful for her life. She began to want to get better and would see
a psychiatrist and therapist often which helped restore her eating habits. She took a combo of
different pills and eventually fully recovered.
Anorexia Nervosa, as we see from Lauries story, is a serious, potentially life-threatening
eating disorder, characterized by self-imposed extremely low body weight, inappropriate eating
habits, obsession with having a thin figure and the fear of gaining weight. Therefore, people with
anorexia deliberately try to lose weight. They have a distorted perception of their body image.
They try to maintain a body weight that is at, or above, minimally normal weight for age and
height. Someone suffering from anorexia has a fear of gaining weight and looking fat despite
already being significantly underweight (National Eating Disorder Association).
By restricting the food intake, they can cause themselves metabolic and hormonal
disorders. For girls and women post-puberty it will be a loss of menstrual periods. In addition,
someone suffering from Anorexia Nervosa may experience dizziness, headaches, drowsiness,
and a lack of energy. The brain is partially vulnerable to the consequences of malnutrition since
it uses around 20% of the caloric intake and is especially dependent on glucose. Starvation
shrinks the brain and is associated with many behavioral and psychological disturbances such as
rigidity, emotional deregulation, and social difficulties (Cristopher G. Fairburn). There are many
other complications that result from self-starvation, such as an abnormally slow heart rate and
low blood pressure, which increases the risk for heart failure. In addition, it results in a reduction
of bone density, muscle loss and weakness, severe dehydration, fatigue (overall weakness), dry
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skin and hair, and a growth of a layer of hair called lanugo all over the body, in an effort to keep
the body warm (NEDA).
In todays Western society, one main cause for Anorexic behavior is the socio-cultural
pressure to maintain a certain body image. There is a perception that slimness is beautiful.
Therefore, low body weight and having a slender ideal shape is central to ones self-concept and
self-esteem. It creates in a person extreme body concern and gives them a powerful desire to
become thinner. An additional heightened awareness of physical attractiveness adds to the
pressure to maintain a certain body weight which leads to non-pathological dieting. This
awareness is affected by aspects of media which presents certain images creating the ideal body
image. In their mind, if they dont maintain that ideal shape they harbor feelings of
ineffectiveness, loss of control, and distress. These feelings are what generate and sustain ones
Anorexic eating disorders. As presented in Lauries story, she suffered from social pressure that
her heavy body weight was unacceptable, and it destroyed her self-concept and self-esteem. This
resulted in strict dieting and exercising to obtain and maintain the ideal thin body image. Her
dieting eventually became obsessive and non-pathological, resulting in the abnormal behavioral
eating disorder known as Anorexia (Janis H. Crowther).
In addition to Anorexia, another eating disorder that results from these Western
Socio-cultural influences is the disorder of Bulimia Nervosa. Both AN and BN share a core
psychopathology of morbid fear of fatness. BN is an eating disorder characterized by a binge-
eating and purging cycle, accompanied with feelings of loss of control, guilt and remorse, fear of
fatness, and repeated attempts to lose weight. Such attempts are through dieting and/or
compensatory behaviors, such as self-induced vomiting, laxative or diuretic abuse. People
struggling with bulimia nervosa usually appear to be of average body weight (NEDA).
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Bulimia nervosa can be extremely harmful to the body. The constant binge-and-purge
cycles can damage the entire digestive system, and purging behaviors can lead to electrolyte and
chemical imbalances in the body. Electrolyte imbalance may lead to cardiac arrhythmia, cardiac
arrest, and even death. The constant vomiting also leads to dehydration, inflammation of the
esophagus, and possible rupture in the esophageal wall. It causes dental erosion, swollen salivary
glands, constipation, and gastric ruptures (although uncommon) In addition, it results in oral
trauma, from constant insertion of fingers or other objects, which causes laceration to the lining
of the mouth or throat (NEDA).
Aside from socio-cultural influences to obtain and maintain an ideal body image, there
are other factors that contribute to eating disorders such as biological aspects of the human body.
These biological reasons can be due to genetics or biochemical imbalance which affects ones
eating patterns (Owais Chaudrhi). Different kinds of personality traits also correlate with eating
disorders. For example, increased compensatory behaviors follow disinhibited eating (Marcello
Spinella). Child maltreatment as well, is a major factor leading to eating disorders. When a child
experiences physical or psychological sexual abuse they may develop eating disorders to gain a
sense of control or comfort. Additionally, neglect and absence of a nurturing stable environment
with affection and attention affects the childs diet and leads to an eating disorder (Beth B.
Rayworth). Social isolation is another contributing factor leading to eating disorders. When one
is alone it lead to depression and cause one anxiety. In attempt to rid ones self of these feelings
they may engage in emotional eating by either binging or restricting food intake to suppress
emotions (Reed Larson).
Binge eating is an eating disorder where food serves as a source of comfort. Binge eating
may result from feelings of low self-worth, trouble managing emotions, expressing anger, or
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controlling impulsive behaviors (Timberlyknolls Residential Treatment Center ). The difference
between binging and BN is that when one binges, they consume very large amounts of food to
the point of discomfort, without behaviors to prevent weight gain. Weight gain prevention is
accomplished by the act of purging, which is self-induced vomiting. Consistent and abnormal
purging is also categorized as an eating disorder. When one binges there is a feeling of being out
of control, and when the episode of binging is over they have strong feelings of shame or guilt
towards their binge eating (NEDA). These feelings of guilt and shame are the emotional
component of the disorder that makes it hard for one to stop. They cause further feelings of
depression which lead to other disorders such as substance abuse, making it even harder to
understand ones own emotions, triggering more frequent and severe binges (Timberlyknolls
Residential Treatment Center ). Health issues which result from binge eating can be high blood
pressure, high cholesterol levels, heart disease, diabetes, gallbladder disease, and
musculoskeletal problems (NEDA).
Fortunately, today we have different ways of treating eating disorders to help people
regain and maintain normal eating habits. When treating an Anorexia Nervosa patient, one must
try to address three main areas. The first is to restore the person to a healthy weight. In order to
make that happen, the patient must be put on a strict diet. Initial meal plans may be low in
calories, in order to build comfort in eating, and then the food amount can slowly be increased. A
second area is to treat the psychological disorders that are related to the illness. There is a
medication called Olanzapine, which has been shown to be effective in treating certain aspects of
Anorexia Nervosa. It helps reduce the compulsiveness in their personality, including obsessional
thoughts about food. In addition, therapy is needed to reduce or eliminate behaviors or thoughts
that brought about this eating disorder. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), is a therapy which
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tries to modify the patients distorted beliefs and attitudes about the meaning of weight, shape and
appearance. Therapists try to address their feelings of low self-esteem and interpersonal
problems. They then have to monitor and maintain the patients progress to reduce the risk of
relapse (Rebecca Murphy).
To treat bulimia, one must develop healthy thoughts about ones body and food.
CBT is an important part of recovery which is needed to fix ones poor body image and low self-
esteem, which lie at the heart of bulimia. Therapists can help with the feelings of isolation and
shame from ones binging and purging. They can also help and binger to sort out their emotional
issues and create different emotional responses. CBT targets the unhealthy eating behaviors of
bulimia and the negative thoughts that fuel them (Rebecca Murphy). Nutrition Therapy is a
therapy where the patient with bulimia meets with a dietitian to develop a healthy meal plan. It
is essential to eat five to six meals a day to reduce the urge to binge. Group therapy is another
way of treating Bulimics. Its a group of Bulimics under one leader. They discuss their problems
and try to help each other. Studies show that using FBT has also been promising to treat bulimia.
Along with therapy there are some medicines that help people with Bulimia. Antidepressants,
Anticonvulsants, which is a medicine which helps control mood swings, Anti-nausea, which is
medicine that prevents vomiting, laxative-treats constipation, and vitamins. In addition, Selective
Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRI) is a medication that to increase serotonin levels, which
lowers the addiction and increases appetite (Wikipedia).
These common eating disorders, AN, BN, binging and purging, are all forms of behaviors
that are taken to an extreme and become identified as abnormal behaviors. Familial, behavioral,
biological, and socio-cultural factors of a persons life affect his/her eating habits, and create
these eating disorders. Despite the destructive ability and impairment of life function caused by
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these disorders, there are preventive measures as well as ways to treat them, and psychologically
help one to adjust his/her mindset to normal standards.

Bibliography
Beth B. Rayworth, Lauren A. Wise, Bernard L. Harlow. "Epidemiology." Childhood Abuse and Risk of
Eating Disorders in Women (2004): 271-278.
Cristopher G. Fairburn, Paul J. Harrison. "The Lancet." Eating disorders (2003): 407-416.
Defining Abnormal Behaviors. n.d. 21 7 2014.
http://www2.hawaii.edu/~heiby/overheads_eating_disorders.html

Janis H. Crowther, Daniel L. Tennenbaum, Stevan E. Hobfoll, Marry Ann Parris Stephens. "The Etiology of
Bulimia Nervosa: The Individual and Familial Context." Janis H. Crowther, Daniel L. Tennenbaum,
Stevan E. Hobfoll, Marry Ann Parris Stephens. The Etiology of Bulimia Nervosa: The Individual
and Familial Context. Hemisphere Publishing Corporation, 1992. 50-63.
Marcello Spinella, Jennifer Lyke. "The International Journal of Neuroscience ." Executive Personality
Traits and Eating Behavior (2004): 83-93.
National Eating Disorder Association. n.d. 20 7 2014.
Owais Chaudrhi, Caroline Small, Steve Bloom. "Philisophical Transactions of the Royal Society."
Gastrointestinal Hormones Regulating Appetite (2006): 1887-1209.
Rebecca Murphy, Suzanne Straebler, Zafra Cooper, Cristopher G. Fairburn. "The Psychiatric Clinics of
North America." Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Eating Disorder (2010): 611-627.
Reed Larson, Craig Johnson,. "Addictive Behaviors." Bulimia: Disturbed Patterns or Solitude (1985): 281-
290.
"Timberlyknolls Residential Treatment Center ." n.d. Binge Eating Symptoms and Effects. 28 7 2014.
http://www.timberlineknolls.com/eating-disorder/binge-eating/signs-effects