Anorexia and Bulimia :: Causes of Bulimia, Eating Disorders

Anorexia and Bulimia Nervosa"When she was fourteen, a modeling agency said that her face was too fat.It was a death sentence." (Toronto Sun, 1994)     Sheena Carpenter died in November 1993. She was constitute on the kitchenfloor of her apartment by her mother. She was twenty-two years old. . . andweighed only fifty pounds. Sheena was just one of the alarming numbers of youngwomen who become ghost with the shape and size of their bodies, and sufferharmful, or in this case, fatal effects from eating disorders. At any given time,almost one out of each two women is on some sort of a diet, and this statisticis apparently reflected the revenues of the diet constancy, up-to-dately a $33billion a year industry. It should be celebrated that this estimate does not includeprofits generated by exercise or workout programs, gyms, health clubs, orcosmetic surgery.     A recent national mess in the US reveled that the majority of women,when asked what would make them happiest, choose turn outness over all other choices,even such thing as job promotion, romance, prestigiousness and power. In fact, morewomen feared becoming fat, then feared dying. These statistics revel an alarmingsocial problem that is reaching epic proportions.Although the topic of eating disorders has gained a larger auditory sensewithin the last decade, the number of cases of eating disorders continues torise at a resounding rate. Today many scientists are looking into possiblecauses for the onset of an eating disorder. The most prevalent and influencingfactor is the media and societys view. They act as a controlling presence forsusceptible individuals. The socioculture pressure on todays adolescent andyoung women to be thin and attractive also play an important role in thedevelopment of eating disorders. Thinness in todays society is associated withself-control, attractiveness, intelligence, happiness , wealth and success. Themedia, fashion, and the diet industry exploit this myth by bombarding us withproducts and services designed to push us towards losing weight. As a result, itis not surprising to find that adolescents who are undergoing irrepressiblebody changes and the onset of new emotional and sexual drives seek dieting inorder to enhance their sense of self-control and acceptance by others.     lately it has been discovered that a possible cause for eatingdisorders is due to an defective hormone. That hormone serotonin, said toactivate in response to food, is still a mystery story and even though it has somevalue as a blood clotting factor, but its functions have yet to be totallyunderstood. At the current speed of progress however, it has been said that we