How bulimia nervosa can impact society and young women

Abstract

The below literature review will discuss the theories of body image perception as it relates to bulimia nervosa. The document will discuss the implication of social media on the perception of the idea of beauty in the minds of young women. Social media, particularly, the idea of “perfection” and how unrealistic it is to obtain will be observed using peer-reviewed articles. Likewise, the role of societal pressures related ideal weight, size and shape will also be reviewed. Finally, the overall science behind bulimia nervosa will be discussed with a particularly emphasis on the psychological implication of peer approval.

For one all of these elements are heavy correlated the bulimia nervosa. Young women are particularly susceptible to this disorder as their brains are still developing. Here, young women attempt to make sense of the various stimuli around them, namely advertisements, social norms, social media, and peers. As research will attest, female peers have by far the highest influence on young women than any other medium. The need to “fit in” and be accepted by peers creates a clear juxtaposition between what the young female would like to do versus what society and her peers demand her to do. This phenomenon occurs quite frequently with teenagers who leverage various tactics to demean others. Element such as in-person bullying, cyber-bullying, and even violence emanates from a need to fit in and be accepted. From the female perspective a large portion is verbal and is heavily correlated to appearance. Those that don’t conform to the standard of beauty are often ridiculed, shunned and ostracized. As a result, many turns to self-destructive behaviors such as bulimia nervosa, which inevitably causing still further harm to the individual. This document will look to identify the psychological catalysts of this behavior while offering peer-reviewed solutions to help mitigate its occurrence (Grilo, 2019)

Introduction

To begin bulimia nervosa is a potentially life-threatening eating disorder that impacts nearly 5% of American women during their lifetime. This number is heavily skewed as many victims of this disorder never report it to the appropriate authorities or healthcare professionals. Typically, the eating is disorder is characterized an individual consuming a large number of calories over a given period, and then attempting to rid themselves of the calories in an unhealthy manner. The objective is often to maintain an often-unobtainable beauty standard or to simply prevent weight gain. The most common method of eliminating this caloric intake is through the use of vomiting, laxatives, or enemas. Other, less invasive techniques include unhealthy amounts of dieting and fasting. Still others use excessive amounts of exercise as a means of circumventing weight gain.

The most common symptom of bulimia nervosa is a large preoccupation with person body shape and weight. This preoccupation is typically influenced by societal norms, trends, and peers. Likewise, the individual experiencing bulimia nervosa often lives in fear of gain weight and looks to maintain a certain image to uphold a public persona. This symptom has been particularly exacerbated by the growing influence of social media on the lives of young women. Here, many young women, in an effort to garner “Likes,” “Subscribers,” and “Followers” looks to maintain an ideal and often unrealistic body image. In order to do, many resorts to many of the tactics presented in the paragraph above including vomiting, laxatives, diuretics, and supplements. By engaging in these activities excessively, many women risk health complications that can be long lasting and severely adverse to their overall lifespan. Finally, the severity of the disorder pertains to the number of times an individual looks to “purge” or use the techniques mentioned above. If an individual engages in this behavior a least once a week or three times a month, experts consider the individual to have bulimia nervosa (Perkins, 2019)

Literature Review

To begin, research conducted by Sattler, Eickmeyer, and Eisenkold determined that there was a direct correlation between body image disturbance and bulimia nervosa. The correlation is particularly acute for children and adolescents according to the research (Sattler, 2020). Here the research also stats a strong correlation to the onset of bulimia nervosa prior to the age of 21. As a result, from a preventative standpoint, it is critical for those suffering from bulimia nervosa to engage in preventative technique prior to the disorder becoming entrenched within the daily life of the individual. The critical element within the research is related to the varying components of body image disturbance as it relates to perception, satisfaction, cognition and behavior.

The research from Sattler indicates that must children and adolescents are heavily influenced by media and peers. This was also indicated in the introduction, with the Sattler research validating these observations. Here research conducted by Lenroot and Giedd showed that longitudinal data indicates that adolescent males reach their peak later than females. Here females are often inundated with societal norms right at the point that they are developing their brains to fully function in society (Lenroot, 2010). As it relates to bulimia nervosa, this could have adverse consequences in the many in which females interact with the various stimuli related to how they should behave and look. Even more, this stimulus is often congruent irrespective of media. Social media, television, music videos, print advertisements, and even streaming services generally show the same characteristics of beauty. Here, they are often skinny, fit, with long hair and sharply bodies. Impressionable females, see this consistency and often attribute this to a need to fit into society. According to the research from Sattler, most young females feel an obligation to conform to society standards to avoid resentment from others. The research from Sattler also showed that those who experienced bulimia nervosa often had low self-esteem related to how they looked in front of others. This combination of low self-esteem and a maniacal focus on image all are exacerbated by social media.

Here Sattler, determined that many adolescent females use social media as a form of society validation to help mitigate the influence of low self-esteem. Here, females use their bodies as a means to obtain validation from peers and those of the opposite sex. Through this validation, they often feel vindicated in their use of laxatives, diuretics, and weight-loss supplements. Here, social media acts as both a blessing and a curse for the adolescent women. Here, social validation often increases her self-esteem and often her self-worth as she attempts to conform to societal norms. However, this often comes as the cost of exacerbating the adverse behaviors related to bulimia nervosa. The validation essentially serves as a means to continue the self-destructive behavior. Sattler also mentions that searching for this validation often deprives the adolescent female of her own unique skillset, talents of abilities. By conforming to society, Sattler argues that adolescent females are hindering the development of their own unique traits and attributes which can be of much more benefit to society.

A negative related to the research was the extremely small sample size. Here, the researcher only used a control group of 20 individuals, all of which where below 19 years of age. Although most individuals with bulimia nervosa are below 21, the study could have benefited from a more diversified and broader sample size. In addition, the researchers only used PubMed and PsycINFO databases based on a priori eligibility criteria. Here again, it appears the limited nature of the resources and sample size make the conclusions difficult to rely on.

Next, research conducted by Benninghoven, looked into the male ideal of female attractiveness (Benninghoven, 2007). This is a particularly interesting study as conventional wisdom points to females engaging in bulimia nervosa to feel attractive and appeal to potential partners. This research looked into what men actually find attractive and if bulimia nervosa contributed or adversely impacted this perception of attractiveness. The research looked to assess the attractiveness of women with bulimia nervosa and compare them with those who did not have bulimia nervosa. Here, a computer program was used to randomly select images form 62 patients with anorexia nervosa, 45 patients with bulimia nervosa, and 40 females without bulimia nervosa and 39 males without bulimia nervosa to serve as control subjects. Outcomes from the study determined that estimation of the society\\\\\\\'s ideal female body did not differ from men\\\\\\\'s perception of the most attractive female body. Here, the research found that attractiveness is a matter of self-reflection, which is often reflective of society norms. As a result, men often have a proclivity towards women who are deemed by society to be more attractive than normal. These characteristics are heavily related to bulimia nervosa, such as low-fat content, slim waists, makeup, and other characteristics. This research ultimately reinforces the prevailing narrative surrounding bulimia nervosa and how it is used as a tool to help emphasize and perpetuates prevailing stereotypes.

Studies conduct by Katan and Kelly, looked to identify the periods in which a purge may occur with an individual suffering from bulimia nervosa. Here, researchers wanted to better understand these circumstances and why individual suffering from bulimia nervosa will looked to engage in behavior related to purging. Why do some individual purge once a week, while other purge once a month? What is causing this discrepancy in behavior. The study studied 124 women over 2 weeks by observing their nightly activities and their daily eating pathology. Here, the researchers found that levels of “self-compassion” have a direct correlation to the magnitude of bulimia nervosa experienced by individuals. Here self-compassion is defined as the ability to extend compassion to one’s self during periods of failure and suffering. Here researchers found that bulimia nervosa is highly correlate to low levels of self-compassion. This is often the result of a litany of variable including teenage bullying, lack of self-esteem, physical or verbal abuse from parents, inability to make friends, or generally negative view on life in general. Here, Individuals with symptoms of bulimia nervosa (BN) are more likely to binge and purge on days of greater negative affect. The issue is that negative days often exacerbate many of the negative feeling the individual is already experiencing. As a result, days that are even perceived as negative can have a severe adverse impact on the individual and their ability to properly deal with bulimia nervosa. Self-compassion, according to the research is a coping mechanism that is leverages by those suffering from bulimia nervosa. Here, the researchers determined that level of self-compassion have a direct correlation to the ability lower binge eating and the resulting purge. Unfortunately, the study also determined that binge eating was statistically insignificant when compared to levels of self-compassion. Here, the research provides details as it relates to treatment but does not provide clarity as it relates to prevention (Katan, 2021).

Research conducted by Rühl looks at the impact of images of models on television and its impact on eating behaviors. The focus is primarily centered around bulimia nervosa and how media impacts eating behaviors of young women. The research found that eating behaviors are heavily impacted by those who are exposed to what the researchers call the “thin ideal.” Here, the researchers found that this ideal often lead to predictable dysfunctional cognition related to a loss of control of behaviors. Bulimic patients with high levels of these cognitions during exposure ate the most according to the research conducted. Unfortunately, this research suffers from many of the short comings of the other studies conducted above. For one, the study only looked at 26 individuals who where diagnosed with bulimia nervosa. The control group only had 30 individuals within it. The study found no impact of general body image or eating pathology on food intake. However, the results did indicate that exposure to the thin idea did impact the need to maintain a certain image and body type.