English Assignment!

Why hello lovelies! As many of you know from twitter, I had an English assignment on eating disorders and had to do a few forum posts on an article (here: http://youngadultsindayton.wordpress.com/2008/02/24/the-globalization-of-eating-disorders/) I couldn't figure out how to post the entirety of my responses for you all so I figured I'd add them on here :) [note: sorry if these are boring! feel free to read if you'd like to critique my scholastic writing style teehee]

Post #1 (what other causes of eating disorders? what other issues needed discussion? strength/weaknesses of article)
The cause of an individual's eating disorder is as different and varied as the individuals themselves.  Most often the causes are a combination of triggers.  As a sufferer from anorexia and bulimia, I have found in treatment that many suffers often use food and weight as a means of control in a chaotic environment and communication when they feel they are unable to express their needs any other way.  As addressed by Bordo, many anorectics and bulimics have perfectionist tendencies and suffer from body dysmorphic disorder, alluding to the personality traits and biochemical relationship between suffers' brains and the development of the disorder.  Eating disorders do not discriminate based on age, gender, social status, or race; any person can be affected by the disorder.  Additional factors in the development of eating disorders include familial dysfunction, genetic history of the disorder or addiction, and a history of trauma.

A huge issue Bordo fails to address is the inaccessibility of treatment for eating disorders.  I have personally suffered from eating disorders for many years and actually chose to take this class online instead of in the classroom in order to have flexibility with treatment.  Trying to receive insurance coverage has been incredibly challenging.  Unlike other addictions, where the drug of choice can be removed from the environment, diet and exercise can not be taken away from a person's life; the issues must be faced multiple times every day.  For this reason, long term residential care is often indicated in eating disorder treatment.  However, the cost of such care is typically upwards of a thousand dollars a day.  Most insurance will cover acute psychiatric or medical hospitalization, although this is hardly effective in sustaining a long term recovery.  The behaviors associated with eating disorders must be recognized, addressed, and challenged as often as they occur for a sustained period of time in order ensure recovery.  Often times, particularly in the beginning of the recovery process, the sufferer can not address fight the behaviors on their own.  Someone with good insurance coverage would be lucky to receive the minimum 30-day recommended stay.  Many treatment centers have come up with loop holes to receive coverage by coding the treatment as "partial hospitalization" or "day treatment" while charging the patient an addition "living fee" in order to stay at the center 24 hours a day.  Most insurances have the popular view that eating disorders are a simple problem of excessive vanity; an idea I felt Bordo encouraged.  In reality, they are addictions and illnesses that the sufferer has no control over.  Although no one chooses to have an eating disorder, however, everyone who does can make the choice to recover from one.  Unfortunately the choice is difficult to pursue with the extreme inaccessibility to treatment.

I personally was surprised that someone who had written so much on the topic of eating disorders, would present them in such a way of being simple body image problems.  I applaud her efforts to raise awareness about the effects the social media has on society, however, her association that eating disorders are the direct result of them is simply untrue.  Eating disorder are complex, deadly, illnesses.  I was glad she mentioned that anyone can suffer from one, regardless of age, gender, etc, but would have preferred she encourage more treatment accessibility than just changes in the media.  I would have also liked for her to have shown more depth to the illness.  Eating disorders literally take over a person's life.  I don't go a day or hour even without thinking about my weight, calorie intake, or exercise schedules.  Many sufferers can see their eating disorder as part of their identity, and have difficulty separating their own wants, needs, and desires from their disordered thinking.  I would have liked for her to raise more awareness on how deadly the disorder is, having the highest mortality rate of any mental illness, in order to highlight the seriousness of their nature.

Post #2 (gave statistics on obesity)
As an anorectic and bulimic, Bordo's essay hit very close to home.  I found her argument to be one minded and did not take into account the complexity of these disorders.  Eating disorders are a "psycho-social-emotional" illnesses; they are comprised of internal psychological and biochemical reactions to external influences (including society, trauma, etc.).  Although the symptoms include obsessions about weight, food, and body image, to the point of using extreme behavior as a means of control, the causes of such obsessions and behaviors go much deeper than simply wanting to "look like the girls in music videos."  As stated in the article, many eating disorder sufferers have similar characteristics, including perfectionism, familial dysfunction, and other mental illnesses (including body dysmorphic disorder, or BDD).  Eating disorders also have the highest mortality rate, of nearly 20%, out of any mental illness and are notoriously one of the most difficult conditions to treat.

Bordo's statement that western society is the primary cause of eating disorders, greatly undermines the depth and severity of the illnesses.  Undeniably western media plays a strong role in the global idealization of the "perfect" female body being that of an emaciated woman.  Although the media encourages this belief, the belief is not the cause of eating disorders. 

The statistics on obesity bring this point to light by showing not all eating disorders fit into the stereotypical "skeletal" appearance, and shows that  eating disorders are more than a desire for thinness.  Eating disorders come in all shapes an sizes- ranging from severely underweight to obesity.  It is important to note that obesity in itsself is not an eating disorder; it is a symptom of a greater issue, whether it be a medical condition or psychiatric illness.  Although the media can enourage a negative body image, something many people without eating disorders have, eating disorders are not simply a result of the media.  The similarity in traits amongst eating disorder sufferers negates Bordo's point that there is no biochemical or genetic connection in the cause of eating disorders.  Further, had eating disorders been simply a cause of the media, something nearly the entire world is exposed to, then the majority of people exposed to such would develop eating disorders.  The fact that the vast majority exposed to western media does not develop an eating disorder shows that there are additional underlying factors and triggers contributing to their occurrence.  The complexity of eating disorders is further shown in their difficulty to treat.  The statistics on obesity help expose the depth of the disorders, which Bordo downplays in her argument.