Taking a Look at Teenagers and Anorexia Essay - 1078 Words

Anorexia Teenagers across America have a number of problems that they have to deal with everyday, whether it is bullying, stress, friends, school, or body image. Body image is something that is especially sensitive to adolescents and is a growing issue in the modern day. Teens, especially girls, are the most self-conscious group of people so it is not surprising that eating disorders are most likely to develop when a girl or boy becomes a teenager. Anorexia is the most common eating disorder in American teenage girls along with the most deadly of all psychological illnesses. Anorexia is an emotional disorder when one has an obsessive desire to lose weight by refusing to eat. Girls set an unrealistic standard in their mind of what†¦show more content†¦The character of the people one surrounds them with reflects off of themselves, that is why negative influences in an individual’s life can often cause eating disorders such as anorexia. â€Å"Bulimics and anorexics share certain traits: they lack self-esteem, have feelings of helplessness, and fear gaining weight. In both disorders, the eating problems appear to develop as a way of handling stress and anxiety† (The Influences of Mental Health and Culture). All teenagers experience stress and anxiety with friends, family and school, and all it takes is this along with psychological problems to have a case of anorexia. The people in their lives negatively influence female adolescents in America. The environment of a teenage girl does not only consist of the people she knows and has a relationship with, it also consists of the people she knows from the magazines and television. The media is a major part of a teenage girl’s life, and the average teenager no doubt reads celebrity magazines. These magazines are filled with extremely thin models that are not even at a healthy weight. Celebrities are often exceptionally skinny, and the standard set for teens is unrealistic and unhealthy. â€Å"We hav e defined beauty not just as health and youth andShow MoreRelatedAnorexia Bulimia: Why Are American Teens Starving Themselves?1533 Words   |  7 PagesAnorexia Bulimia: Why Are American Teens Starving Themselves? Dina Males Mr. James Wieber English 111 Image is very crucial for a teenager; the pressure of school and fitting in with there classmates and friends can be very difficult for a teenager. It is when a teenager starts taking image to the extreme and starts harming themselves by starving themselves. More and more teenagers are becoming anorexic and bulimic and it is not only affecting girls but boys are starting to come outRead MoreEating Disorders Among Teens And Adolescents1566 Words   |  7 PagesEating Disorders in Teens In this generation teenagers fight the everyday struggle of wanting to be perfect. Perfection sells in modern society, with perfection being plastered everywhere, people feel the pressure of having to change their appearance. When looking at television and movies women and men see the ideal model of what the world believes they should look like. This long term process of seeing what you are expected to look like can cause emotional and physical problems such as eating disordersRead MoreDo Teenagers Place Too Much Importance On Their Appearance?1175 Words   |  5 PagesBeauty is the main part of this time period that influences the teens the greatest. However, all these new factors to consider are overwhelming for teenagers, causing them to feel highly stressed. 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Models, Disney princesses, and even Barbie dolls have one body type: thin. It seems like every girl’s dream is to someday be like them. They want to be thin and pretty like the models they see on television and in magazines or lik e the Barbies they play with every day. The desire could often become an obsession and young girls often see thinness as being a needed characteristic. For many girls, the teenage through college years are spent trying to acquire this look. Females areRead MoreThe Difficulties of Being a Teenager Essay1217 Words   |  5 PagesThe Difficulties of Being a Teenager â€Å"Go on.† â€Å"Everybody’s doing it.† â€Å"It’s only one drink.† â€Å"You’re such a loser.† I didn’t know what to do. All these voices were repeating over and over in my head. I didn’t want to give into them because I knew what I was doing was wrong. I didn’t want everyone to think I was scared but what if my parents found out. Why was I here? Are these people really my friends if they are really doing this to me? These were the questionsRead MoreEating Disorders Among Children And Teens1216 Words   |  5 Pagescharacteristics and cause by eating behaviors, also people with this disorder use eating, purging or restructuring with their issues. Eating disorders is divided into three parts as anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, compulsive overeating, etc (Eating Disorders,n.d.).Eating disorders can overlap between and alternate of anorexia and bulimia. Eating disorders around the adolescence, but it can also start in childhood. Girls with bulimia nervosa fall within their normal range of body weight, but to themRead MoreLearning About Anorexia Essay499 Words   |  2 PagesLearning About Anorexia Anorexia. What is it? The dictionary describes anorexia nervosa as a mental illness in which a person has an intense fear of gaining weight and a distorted perception of their weight and body shape. In simple terms, this means that people with this illness believe themselves to be fat even when their weight is so low that their health is in danger. Also, a person with anorexia nervosa strictly controls what he/she eats and usually becomesRead More Negative Peer Pressure Essay1511 Words   |  7 Pagespressure. It can be disguised in many different forms. In this essay I am going to look at different ways in which teenagers can be influenced by peer pressure. Many teenagers experiment with cigarettes, drugs or alcohol. It is likely that they take their first cigarette, drink or drug because of pressure from peers or friends. The influence of friends who smoke is the main reason teenagers start, although you are also more likely to start if your parents do. CigarettesRead MoreThe Dangerous Effects of Eating Disorders1100 Words   |  5 Pagesare so preoccupied with the food that you eat and how much you weigh, you often focus on little else (http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/eating-disorders/basics/definition/con-20033575 ). There are three main types of eating disorders. Anorexia nervosa is the fear of gaining weight. If you have bulimia nervosa, you eat large amounts very quickly, and then you purge. Lastly, binge eating is where you feel out of control and you eat, and eat, and eat, and you cannot stop. Eating disorders