Medicalization Of Eating Disorders

An eating disorder is defined by eating habits that become abnormal and negatively affect one's body whether it's physically or mentally. If the eating disorder continues and serious health problems arise, treatment is necessary or eating disorders can become fatal. Eating disorders can affect anyone of any age due to a variety of causes and there is no one "cure" for them.

A black and white photo of a scale that depicting the importance of being "skinny"

Medicalization

The term medicalization can be represented by the process of treating human conditions and problems as medical conditions. This leads to people being used for medical study and treated as medical problems. Medicalization is not good or bad, but instead just a statement of something becoming medicalized and being examined by doctors and practitioners. Common practices of medicalization can involved children who are energetic and are diagnosed with ADHD instead of just assuming they are very full of energy. Medicalization means that physicians and doctors are diagnosing and treating an individual [1]

Common Types of Eating Disorders

The three most common types of eating disorders include:

Anorexia Nervosa

Anorexia Nervosa is an eating disorder that is classified as restricting food intake causing insufficient nutrients to the body and weight loss that can be dangerous for health. Anorexia can cause one to view themselves as overweight even when they are extremely thin and underweight. It can affect your heart, bones, and reproductive system if not treated. Those who suffer from Anorexia are obsessive with their weight and looking thin but continuing down this path can be very detrimental to one's health. [2]

Bulimia Nervosa

Bulimia Nervosa is defined as an eating disorder that involves binge eating, (excessive consumption of food that is uncontrollable) and an act or behaviour that follows to rid the food that was just consumed. This can include the action of forcefully throwing up or the use of laxatives. Damage to the oesophagus and teeth from stomach acid often come from purging when suffering from bulimia. The imbalance of electrolytes in the stomach is also affected by the constant purging. [2]

Binge-eating Disorder

A Binge-eating Disorder is classified as an eating disorder that is the initial part of Bulimia Nervosa. It is when one overeats large amounts of food that is oftentimes caused by emotional distress. Binge eating disorder can affect 1% to 3% of the general population but in people who are suffering from obesity and people who are seeking weight loss in their lives, binge eating can affect up to 25% of that population. [3]

Others

Anorexia Athletica (addiction to exercise and overexercising where it can be detrimental and harmful to the body), Body Dysmorphia (commonly associated with other eating disorders and causes one to view themselves as something they are not in the mirror), Orthorexia Nervosa (addicted to the ingredients and healthy food being put into the body which can lead to restrictive eating and lack of nutrients), Drunkorexia (common occurrence in universities where students will restrict their eating during the day because of the calories being consumed from alcohol are too much; this can lead to purging when drinking too much and lack of substance in the stomach [4]

Causal Relationships

Psychological Causes

In some cases, Anorexia Nervosa can be associated with depression. Causes can also include low self-esteem and poor body image issues. People who are perfectionists can oftentimes be at higher risk of eating disorders or people who are dealing with a lot of stress in their lives can also be subject to eating disorders. When people suffer from depression or anxiety, it is not guaranteed that they will also suffer from an eating disorder but eating disorders can stem from other mental health issues. [5]

Environmental Influences

Many things can influence an eating disorder but the main ones being:

Media

The media portrays women and men in society to be perfect. Although eating disorders are more likely to occur in women, men suffer from them as well. The glorification of women being extremely thin is very prevalent in society. The idea of supermodels and actors/actresses being "naturally" thin and having the "ideal bodies" can influence how people view themselves which can then lead to eating disorders.

Family/Peers

The pressure from family and peers can be a factor that affects those with eating disorders. Whether it is the pressure to be perfect, to look like someone else, or to be skinnier than those around you. Eating disorders can develop from depending too much of one's self worth on body weight and that can be influenced by the people who surround them. Especially if those around the individual that live a certain lifestyle, it is easy to be influenced especially when you are young.

Effects on Health

Who Eating Disorders Affect

Eating disorders can affect people of any age and any gender. Although eating disorders are very common in women, especially adolescents to young adults, they can occur in people of all ranges as well. Young women can be very influenced by the media and societal pressure to fit the image of having the "perfect body" which means slimness. The pressure of peers and comparing themselves to others can affect how they treat their bodies with developing eating disorders. Men can also be affected by eating disorders because of the expectation to be muscular and built therefore men who are obese or overweight could develop eating disorders to fit this standard. [6]

Infertility

Weight fluctuation, especially when underweight, can affect your reproductive system. Lack of nutrients and being underweight causes the body to stop producing a menstrual period due to not enough nutrients to produce estrogen. If the production of a menstrual period does not happen for an extended period of time, this can have a negative effect on the entire reproductive system. This can cause the person suffering from an eating disorder to not have the ability to reproduce whatsoever. [7]

Osteoporosis

The lack of nutrients from those who suffer from anorexia or orthorexia, affects directly the possibility of osteoporosis. This is because people who do not have sufficient nutrients to support their bodies, it affects their bodies in different ways. Such as bones becoming brittle and breaking easily due to bone mineral deficiency. [7]

Treatments

When speaking to treatments to eating disorders, there is no specific "cure" but there is a variety of treatments available to those who suffer from eating disorders. That can include all different types of therapy such as counselling (talking to someone personally), nutritional help (seeing a nutritionist and getting on a a proper diet plan that is stable), self-help (the want to get better on your own), and family therapy (more common in younger individuals who suffer from eating disorders, getting family involved so everyone is on the same page). There is no medication that will "cure" eating disorders as there is no medication specific to make it subside however if someone with an eating disorder also suffers from depression, there is medication to stabilize their mood. Hospitalization is sometimes needed for those suffering from eating disorders as the monitoring of food consumption, regular amount of exercise, sleep, and no restrictions of food are needed.

Some helpful resources can include: NEDIC UBC NEDA

References

1. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/medicalize
2. Erzegovesi, S., & Bellodi, L. (2016). Eating disorders. CNS Spectrums, 21(4), 304.
3. ANRED. (n.d.). Less-Well-Known Eating Disorders and Related Problems. Retrieved November 28, 2017, from https://www.anred.com/defslesser.html
4. Pull, C. B. (2014, January). Binge eating disorder : Current Opinion in Psychiatry. Retrieved November 28, 2017, from http://journals.lww.com/co-psychiatry/Abstract/2004/01000/Binge_eating_disorder.8.aspx
5. Polivy, Janet and C. Peters Herman. “Cause of Eating Disorders.” Annual Review of Psychology 53.1 (2002): 186-213. Web.
6. Canadian Mental Health Association. (n.d.). Eating Disorders. Retrieved November 28, 2017, from https://cmha.ca/mental-health/understanding-mental-illness/eating-disorders/
7. Mitchell, J. E., & Crow, S. (2006). Medical complications of anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. Current Opinion in Psychiatry, 19(4), 438-443.
8. Kennedy, S. H., Kaplan, A. S., Garfinkel, P. E., Rockert, W., Toner, B., & Abbey, S. E. (1994). Depression in anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa: Discriminating depressive symptoms and episodes. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 38(7), 773-782. doi:10.1016/0022-3999(94)90030-2
9. ‘Section D – Eating disorders.” Statcan.gc.ca. N.p., 27 Nov. 2015. Web 2 Nov 2017
10. Micali, N., De Stavola, B., Ploubidis, G., Simonoff, E., Treasure, J., & Field, A. E. (2015). Adolescent eating disorder behaviours and cognitions: Gender-specific effects of child, maternal and family risk factors. The British Journal of Psychiatry : The Journal of Mental Science, 207(4), 320. doi:10.1192/bjp.bp.114.152371
11. Anna Christin Makowski, Eva E. Mnich, Matthias C. Angermeyer, Bernd Löwe, Olaf von dem Knesebeck, Sex differences in attitudes towards females with eating disorders, In Eating Behaviors, Volume 16, 2015, Pages 78-83, ISSN 1471-0153, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eatbeh.2014.10.017.
12. Canada, G. O. (2016, March 08). Women in Canada: A Gender-based Statistical Report The health of girls and women in Canada The health of girls and women in Canada. Retrieved November 28, 2017, from http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/89-503-x/2015001/article/14324-eng.htm
13. Mah, S. (2014, January 31). You count more than calories: Eating disorders illuminated. Retrieved November 29, 2017, from http://thesheaf.com/2014/01/31/you-count-more-than-calories-eating-disorders-illuminated/