Argumentative Essay on Eating Disorders

Satisfaction. The need for it causes some individuals to dangerously hurt themselves, causing severe weight loss or gain, and in some cases, death. The need for satisfaction in the body and appetite is what causes numerous body dysmorphia and eating disorders. Bigorexia, satisfaction for the mass of muscles. Obesity in Prader-Willi syndrome, satisfaction for their appetite. Anorexia, satisfaction for thinness. All three of these are based around the need for satisfaction, and in some cases that can be good, but in the following cases, they are not.

Bigorexia is a body dysmorphic disorder that affects one's view of their body, making them see themselves as small and frail. This will cause them to set exercising as a priority over all other matters, even family and friends. The disorder may also cause them to abuse the use of steroids, supplements, and protein shakes. They do anything to build muscle, even put themselves at risk. Though there is not much awareness about this issue, it affects as many as ten percent of men in the gym. 

Women are affected as well but at much lower rates. People with bigorexia are not only obsessed with exercise, but also with eating a strict, muscle building diet containing foods such as beef, chicken, rice, and pasta. Someone with bigorexia can be so worried about eating or drinking something that is unhealthy that they avoid eating out and taking food from others, which can affect one's social life. Their social life may also have been affected by how they were treated when they were younger, potentially causing the disorder in the first place. If an individual was bullied for being weak or frail when they were young, they would have extracted dysmorphic views about their body from that experience, causing them to over-exercise. 

Bigorexia is also linked to low levels of serotonin, a neurotransmitter that controls emotion and behavior. Bigorexia has many other causes, from athletic expectations to peer pressure. Though someone with bigorexia may be obsessed about the food that they eat, this disorder is not a “feeding and eating” disorder, unlike Anorexia Nervosa. This disorder not only falls under the category of body dysmorphic disorders, but under a small part of obsessive-compulsive disorder. Bigorexia may not be researched and talked about as much as other disorders, it affects a terribly wide range of people and needs to be focused on much more by doctors and specialists.

Though most commonly described as a genetic disorder, some may say that Prader-Willi syndrome may involve some eating disorder symptoms, such as overeating. Prader-Willi syndrome is an exceedingly rare genetic disorder that presents itself at birth, and it only occurs in one of 15,000 newborns. PWS causes newborns to have problems starting in the early stages of their life all the way to death. 

This disorder occurs because of the deletion of chromosome 15 in the parent. It can also be caused by maternal uniparental disomy, which is when two copies of one chromosome come from one parent, instead of one from each parent. These genetic changes occur as random events during the formation of reproductive cells or in early embryonic development. Some symptoms of the disorder in early life are hypotonia, feeding difficulties, delayed development, and flawed growth. Though this disorder is mostly researched in young children, Prader-Willi syndrome continues through the entirety of an individual's life. 

Symptoms of PWS in teen years may include more physiatric disorders that include a constant appetite, but otherwise, the symptoms are about the same. In fact, the symptoms continue almost the same throughout one's entire life. Prader-Willi syndrome may not sound like it has any part to do with eating or body dysmorphic disorders, but one of the most noticeable and life-changing symptoms of PWS is a constant appetite, creating obesity. The syndrome is considered the most common genetic cause of obesity. 

Prader-Willi syndrome causes children, usually around three year's and above, to have an endless appetite, lack of satiety, and weight gain. Scientifically, doctors are not fully sure about the cause of obesity in Prader-Willi syndrome, but there are a few ideas proposed. For example, disruption in hypothalamic pathways of satiety control resulting in hyperphagia, reduced energy expenditure because of hypotonia and altered behavior with features of autism spectrum disorder, an aberration in hormones regulating food intake, and altered behavior with features of autism spectrum disorder. 

Though the obesity in these patients is common, researchers have found different medications that they can take to prevent the endless appetite, such as exenatide,  lorcaserin, naltrexone/bupropion, and phentermine/topiramate. As obesity in the syndrome can end a life at around thirty to forty year's of age, diet restrictions and the given medications are essential to help one with PSW continue on in life. 

Body dysmorphic and eating disorders can not only be two different illnesses, but some disorders involve both, such as Anorexia Nervosa. Anorexia is one of the most well-known disorders that presents itself after puberty. Anorexia occurs when a person starves themselves and loses weight. A person may do this for many reasons, including a body dysmorphic disorder. Often times, a person with this disorder can not help but see themselves as overweight and obese, causing them to want to lose a tremendous amount of weight. The given disorder is not mainly focused on food, starving themselves is just one way that an Anorexic may try to cope with life, as individuals with Anorexia usually equate thinness with worth. The dysmorphia can cause one to starve, purge, or misuse diet aids, diuretics, laxatives, and enemas. 

The body dysmorphia in Anorexia can be caused by many different elements. Some common ones are bullying based on weight, comments from friends and family, what is expected in the community, mental illnesses, and many more. The most common cause of Anorexia Nervosa is genetics. 50 to 80 percent of Anorexia cases are caused by genetics, whether it be that a family member had or has Anorexia exactly, or another eating disorder that has similar roots, such as Bulimia Nervosa. There are two subtypes that can make a person anorexic. The most common of those is a restrictive diet. This is the most well known, where one restricts their diet to a dangerous, and oftentimes fatal, amount of calories per day, resulting in severe weight loss. 

Individuals with Anorexia in the restrictive form would be obsessed with their weight, visual size, and BMI. Though mood disorders such as depression are common in the Anorexic, they are less likely to appear in someone with the restrictive subtype of this disorder. The other subtype of the given disorder is where one will binge, followed by purging and overusing laxatives, but will still keep a restrictive diet. This may sound similar to Bulimia, except that individuals who are suffering from bulimia will most often have an average body weight, and in some cases, they may be overweight. Patients with Anorexia in the binge and purge subtype will still be extremely underweight. Thankfully, there are many different ways to treat individuals with both subtypes, ranging from therapy to starting an inpatient treatment program. There are many online counseling programs as well. 

Many Anorexic individuals consider a dietician for treatment, as they can create balanced diets to help gain back and keep the weight that they lost. There are also many different medications one could take to rid themselves of Anorexia. Fluoxetine could help people with anorexia overcome their depression and maintain a healthy and stable weight once they have gotten their eating under control. Fluoxetine is in a class of drugs called selective serotonin uptake inhibitors. These medications can help to increase serotonin levels. If the patient does not do well on an SSRI, they may get prescribed to olanzapine, an antipsychotic drug usually used to treat schizophrenia. 

This medication has been found to help some people with anorexia gain weight and change their obsessive thinking. These treatments are all said to be extremely effective, giving hope for all those with Anorexia. Bigorexia, obesity in Prader-Willi syndrome, and Anorexia Nervosa are all focused on the need for satisfaction, whether it be for the size of muscles, the appetite, or for thinness. Most cases of body dysmorphia and eating disorders around the world are centered on the need for satisfaction about size or appetite, not only the three given ones. This includes bulimia nervosa, binge eating disorder, and pica. Eating disorders are dangerous and sometimes deadly to individuals who experience them, and they need more attention. It is overwhelmingly important that these disorders be treated before they cause any more deaths and heartbreak.