This is an incredible article about anorexia. One of the best I've read to really get a sense of the struggle and motivation behind extremely controlled eating.
http://ehgazette.blogs.brynmawr.edu/2010/01/15/learning-to-live-with-anorexia/
This is an incredible article about anorexia. One of the best I've read to really get a sense of the struggle and motivation behind extremely controlled eating.
http://ehgazette.blogs.brynmawr.edu/2010/01/15/learning-to-live-with-anorexia/
This was a good article, giving the viewpoint of an individual that has overcome her eating disorder. And although she still struggles with it sometimes it no longer consumes her life. Several of the quotes that stuck out at me were: “Hannah attributes some of the biggest difficulties of her anorexia to her mom and dad. “My parents didn’t really treat it like it was a problem, they treated it as if I was doing something to be obnoxious,” she said.” This was in a way difficult for me to understand, but then again I have to look at all the different parenting styles out there and realize not all parents are what I might say equally invested in the well-being of their children, which is very sad. Another quote that stood out to me was “Hannah has made the choice to recover. “I was waiting for someone to save me,” she said. “That was never going to happen. I had to save myself.”.” Prior to realizing she needed help, I think Hannah was seeking autonomy through controlling her eating. It seemed like she felt if she can’t control the other things that are hurting her such as depression she would control how she looked but taking drastic measures and controlling her food intake. And the last quote of the article was ““I realize that the risks outweigh the benefits,” she said confidently. “Life is so much better than the eating disorder.”, and this really stood out to me because it actually gave me hope that she really is going to stay better and that she has a new out look on life and that really living is better than the life she was living.
The most obvious issue to bring up is her need for autonomy. It's just like with a person who cuts themselves. They're looking for a source of control within their lives, and both cutters and people with eating disorders see their bodies as something they can control. They know that they're hurting themselves. They know that they're becoming unhealthy. Not having your period, thinning hair, dry skin, OCD type behaviors are all indicators. However, the need / drive to continue counting calories, purging, exercising in extreme though you have very clear signs that you're not okay can be explained by the fact that this is a psychological problem. Autonomy is a psychological need. We need to feel like we're in control of our lives. We need to feel like we have a say in what happens to us. We need that sense of security. But when we don't get it, we'll do almost anything to get it. Even staring ourselves.
I really liked how the article explained at the beginning that she felt that she could get over the problem on her own. That she could just eat if she wanted to, but when she was forced to sit and eat the greek salad, she just couldn't. And it was only then that she knew that she had a problem. It was only then that it clicked how big of an issue this was and how in her search for what she wanted, she had actually lost autonomy to this disorder.
The motivation involved with this type of illness has always intrigued me. The extrinsic motivation involved in starving oneself to become thin but never actually obtaining the state of thinness they desire is an excruciating thing to witness. It's our instinct to nourish our bodies when they are hungry, and to do as Hannah and other anorexics do and use the biological process as a means of controlling the anxiety and depression in one's life is abnormal and unhealthy behavior. According to Drive Reduction Theory of Motivation, humans need food and water and the psychological tension physical arousing arising when the need presents itself requires fulfillment of the need to reduce the tension. In other words, our psychological needs cause internal drives to push us to satisfy our hunger (primary drive). The acquired or secondary drive in this case would be the social approval of being thin. It's no secret that our culture has presented thinness as a requirement to also being attractive. The incentive to participating in starving behaviors is the perception of obtaining beauty. It seems that Hannah was also intrinsically motivated to perform these behaviors because they helped her to cope with internal struggles she was facing. However, our bodies continually attempt to maintain homeostasis and balance of physical states. Social cues, cultural customs, food preferences, and food as a comforting device are external cues as to when hunger should take place in a social context. For Hannah, fitting in with a social group was a prerequisite to overcoming her eating disorder.Though she still clearly has issues with body image, she has found a more beneficial way of coping with it.
I also found this site pertaining to the Diary of an Anorexic to be rather interesting: http://www.christianitytoday.com/iyf/truelifestories/ithappenedtome/7.50.html
This was an interesting article to read. It hits close to home for me because I have an Aunt who had struggled with anorexia for a very long time. I remember going to visit her in the hospital. She had been fainting several times a month from not eating and had been throwing up blood. I know that most every girl has issues with their body but it makes me wonder at what point do you force yourself to quit eating? And how do you continue to not eat when you see that it is taking such a toll on your body? Anorexics seem to be motivated to accomplish a goal-- the goal of being thin. They obsess over losing weight and not becoming obese. They also stop eating to deal with or try and balance their feelings of depression or hurt. It is sad that most do not ever get help or don't get it until it is too late. It is very hard to start eating normally after not eating for years. I saw this with my aunt, she is now 43 and I am just now starting to see her eat normal amounts of food. She used to go on the treadmill for 2 hours or more while not eating. I am glad to see that she is better today and hope that other anorexics can learn to have their own positive self image.
This was a very good article and it was good to hear about the disease from someone who had experience it personally. For me hearing about a disease from someone who actually had to cope with it instead of just hearing health care professionals makes the disease that much more real for me. The real issue with Hannah is her autonomy. She needed control over her life, because she couldn’t control the depression or other feelings she was helping. Anorexia gave her a way to cope with her other problems and she kept finding ways to tell herself that she was in control of her life and the disease. Hannah saw the signs that something was not right, but the dry skin and thinning hair was not enough for Hannah to admit that she had a problem.
Hannah’s motivation to keep throwing up and not eating was both intrinsic and extrinsic. Her intrinsic motivation came from the fact that she needed to control her life and anorexia gave her a way to do that. Anorexia made her feel good about herself. The extrinsic motivation was seeing both skinny people and fat people. Hannah decided she wanted to be one of the skinny people so she starved herself, but in her mind she could never be as skinny as everyone else. Hannah took control of her own biological processes by not eating when the body needs food. When the body get hungry most people eat and then its fine, but in Hannah’s case she ignored her bodies need for food and the hunger signal it was sending out.
The sad part is that Hannah had this disease since middle school and she never really got help for in until college. Like Hannah said her parents never treated her anorexia like it was a disease. Maybe if her parents had thought of her anorexia as a disease and put her in a treatment center in middle school she would have had a little better turn out. There were different things that motivated Hannah both interally and externally to become anorexia.
Reading this story was so interesting and moving. I think it’s important to hear these stories throughout life and especially good for adolescent girls. Their bodies are going through so many changes and it’s hard to get used to what’s happening to your body. I hate to hear stories about girls already worrying about their weight. Just yesterday I heard a story about a girl who stopped eating and drinking because she was afraid if she did she’d gain weight like her mom. She ended up in the emergency room for dehydration. I think it would be so beneficial to young children to hear these stories first hand from people who have experienced eating disorders rather than from nurses and health professionals. I often think about the emotions that must be going through someone to get to Hannah’s point. She was struggling to deal with her emotions and the anxiety of school. Hannah was motivated intrinsically and extrinsically. She was extrinsically motivated by the people she saw around her on a daily basis. She always compared herself and either measured up or did. Most often she didn’t measure up in her mind but that was because she was comparing herself to 12 year old girls who haven’t even hit puberty yet! Her intrinsic motivation came from the desire to get a grip on her life. She felt like she had no control over anything and decided she could control the way she looked, the food she ate and her weight. It scares me that girls can get so caught up in comparing themselves to everyone around them and enough so that they decide to not eat. It’s almost like they think that everyone that’s thin is doing that to themselves. I realize girls and women frequently compare themselves to one another because I’m guilty of doing this. At what point does it cross the line? And how do you realize you’ve crossed the line or does it get so bad before you notice and then can’t go back? I’m so glad that Hannah was able to realize that she needed help on more than one occasion. It really says a lot about the women she has grown up to be and will continue to be. She is a fighter!
I think most people don’t understand how bad anorexia is, they see it as something that can easily be changed, but this article proves how that is not the case. People with anorexia deal with so much stress that is caused by their thinking, this reminds me that thought processes can’t be changed so easily even with therapy. Changing thinking is difficult to help someone do, even when they are close to dying.
It really reminds me that it is important to take things seriously when one of my younger family members says something false about their weight or body. Hannah talked about how her parents were frustrated because they saw it as her being obnoxious something she could stop. This is why it’s important that we look out for friends and family and support them and really understand how crippling this disease is.
She tried to fulfill her need for autonomy but she did it in a completely different manner. She thought food consumption was the only thing she could control in her life instead of other things. She also set a goal that to her was very realistic and she took the feedback she was getting as positive. It was good to know that she realized that something was wrong and needed to change. She also realized recovery was going to be a process. We often hear about people who can’t change and end up losing their lives which is really sad so I am happy she was able to change before it was too late.
While reading this article, a lot of the point discussed not only made me reflect and understand the disorder more, but also related greatly to my past history of being a cutter. Both seem to have a coping mechanism when things get hard. Control has a lot to do with the behavior. Since Hannah was going through many changes, transitions in grade level are always tough, and control over her weight and food was just a fact of having control. Human's need for autonomy has much to do with having control over our choices. She chose what she ate, when, and how much.
It discusses how her parents tried to get her help but the attempts were unsuccessful. It reminded me of when I told my mother about my own issue, stating that "until I want it to stop, it won't." Even though Hannah's parents and my mother wanted us to stop our destructive behave, nothing will change until the person chooses to make the change. Again playing into our need for autonomy. This is also an example of goal acceptance. The goal to get well is placed on Hannah by her parents and is rejected. Once Hannah realizes there is a problem she is able to accept the goal as her own. Then she begins to have more input in her care which increases goal acceptance. Acceptance leads to goal succcess.