Eating disorders are serious biologically-based mental illnesses which can affect everyone.They don't descriminate by age, gender, class, color, culture, size, shape or weight. Eating disorders, such as anorexia nervosa, do have the hightest mortality rate of any mental illness.
Anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder characterized by immoderate food restriction and irrational fear of gaining weight. People with AN don't in fact lose their appetite but they suppress their hunger as this illness is coupled with a distorted, low selfesteem. AN has many complicated implications and may be considered as a lifelong illness that may never be truly cured. Let alone the fact that people who suffer AN rarely seek treatment as they usually deny having a problem or they think they don't need help in the first place.
It is estimated that an average of carolies that a person with AN intakes is 600-800 calories per day. The onset age is between 13 to 17 years and recent studies show that this age has decrease to 9 to 12 years of age. It is pretty sure that rolemodels play an important role during this sensitive age.
What I would like to focus on is the stigma that appears in all different shades in a situation like this. A clear case in point is my friend who suffers AN and one day out of the blue she was fired from her job. The main reason was her appearence, actually her lean body and her pale face and not her pure performance during working hours. Why are public attitudes towards individuals with eating disorders moderately negative?There seems to be specific forms of stigmatisation attributed to individuals with AN and I am wondering if some of the phychological effects(not physical)regarding this illness are more an outcome of lack of social support since we eventually talk about stereotypes and descrimination towards AN sufferers?!
