Eating Disorders:Let Our Spirits Shine Through

Eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of any mental illness. There seems to be a high increase of eating disorders among teenagers. Anorexia is the third most common chronic illness among adolescents, however society does not feel this is a troubling issue among our community. Society is unaware of the academic difficulties an eating disorder may have. The problems with family can increase and ultimately the side effects can lead to death.

Eating disorders are illnesses that permeate all aspects of each sufferer’s life, caused by a variety of emotional factors and influences. The most commonly known eating disorders are anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. Anorexia nervosa is extreme starving of oneself which goes beyond the concern of obesity. Bulimia nervosa is characterized by frequent episodes of binge eating followed by frantic efforts to avoid gaining weight which usually involves abusing laxatives. 5-10% of anorexics die within ten years after contracting the disease. 18-20% WILL be dead after twenty years and only 30-40% will ever fully recover. 95% of eating disorders are between the ages of twelve to twenty-five. Finally 80% of thirteen year olds have attempted to lose weight.

The causes of an eating disorder are the need or want to be thin or look a certain way. When asked why she had been dieting since the age of eleven, Maribel Cervantes, a senior in Senora High school, says, “I felt depressed because my mom was telling me I was fat and no one would ever want to be with me because of how I looked.” I then asked her if she felt the media had an impact on ones self esteem she replied by saying, “Yes because of all the models and how skinny they are, teenagers begin to think that they are only beautiful when they are skinny.” This causes one to question the impact the media has on not only people with eating disorders but the entire world’s self esteem as well. Finally, I asked her how she feels about herself and what she would tell people battling an eating disorder, she stated, “I feel good about myself whether I’m fat! People can see me as I am or watch me as I go. I would tell them it’s not what’s on the outside that counts it is what is on the inside they shouldn’t care what people think!”

Society as a whole follows what the media defines as beauty. However, by allowing the media to define what beauty is, we allow them to define who we are. Low self esteem causes us to have mixed, negative emotions. When we see ourselves we usually tend to compare ourselves to the girl making the front page cover on seventeen magazine. Eating Disorders cause pain and they ultimately break up families, only one out of ten people with eating disorders receive treatment. One of the main reasons may be due to the high cost of getting treatment in the United States which starts from 500 to 2,000 dollars every day. Anorexia and Bulimia are mainly psychological disorders that are believed to start in the mind, which shows the major role and impact the media, society and community have.

The solution is to break away from these disorders. Realize there is diversity among us. We are ALL beautiful! Why worry so much about trying to fit in when we were all born to stand out? We try so hard to look like what the ‘ideal beauty girl’ or ‘hot guy’ in the magazine and local show, when in the end we lose ourselves along the way. We should be proud of what we look like, embrace our mistakes, and love ourselves for who we are. Physical beauty fades as we age, but it’s our inner beauty that will always sprout, flourish, and ultimately shine through our outer coating.

                                                                     Karina Cardenas