WHAT CAUSES EATING DISORDERS?
No one knows for sure what causes eating disorders. It is known, though, that these disorders can’t be willed or wished away – treatment is needed. If you or someone you know has an eating disorder, don’t wait to get help. Talk with a health care provider, the sooner the better. Much research has been focused on how personality and environment can put a person at risk for an eating disorder. People with eating disorders are thought to share certain traits, such as low self-esteem (how you feel about who you are), feelings of helplessness, and a fear of becoming overweight. Eating disorders seem to develop as a way of dealing with stress. These disorders appear to run in families, affecting women more than men. Research has shown that a woman’s social environment, including her family and friends, can affect how she feels about body weight. For instance, frequent talk about being thin and dieting may put pressure on a person to be thin. Being teased about being overweight by family and
Many people who develop an eating disorder are between 13 and 17 years old. This is a time of emotional and physical changes, academic pressures, and a greater degree of peer pressure. Although there is a sense of greater independence during the teen years, teens might feel that they are not in control of their personal freedom and, sometimes, of their bodies. This can be especially true during puberty. For girls, even though it’s completely normal (and necessary) to gain some additional body fat during puberty, some respond to this change by becoming very fearful of their new weight. They might mistakenly feel compelled to get rid of it any way they can. A Not So Perfect Picture When you combine the pressure to be like celeb role models with the fact that during puberty our bodies change, it’s not hard to see why some teens develop a negative view of themselves. Many people with eating disorders also can be depressed or anxious, or have other mental health problems such as obsessive-c
Eating disorders are complex in origin. A convoluted interplay of sociocultural, psychological and physiological factors contributes to their development. Eating disorders have become more prevalent as society has changed and science advanced. We live in a culture characterized by information overwhelm and speed. Multiple media blast sound bytes and images of how we should look, think, feel, live, work, eat, sleep, talk, play and buy. Family structure has been strained by the changes. Roles of men and women are stereotypically the same, but their content is something our great-grandparents would not recognize. For millennia, each generation has faced new and different challenges. Parenting has morphed as society has changed — but kids still need to be raised and parents need support to do a good job. Extended families and close knit communities used to provide what television and the internet can’t. Families are stressed and emotional connection is strained. Parents cannot be an emoti
There is no simple answer to this question. Eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia are complex, multifaceted physical and mental health problems and their development usually has a number of different contributing and perpetuating factors. These factors could be any (or a combination of) the following: physical, emotional, or sexual trauma, cultural emphasis or preoccupation with body image ideals, peer influences, loss and grief, starvation, brain chemistry, purging behaviours, physiological effects of dieting, relationships, stress, coping styles etc. The complexity of these disorders is often not appreciated by family and friends. There are no simple solutions and no quick fixes.
