The Effects of Social Media on Eating Disorders (Essay Sample)

Over the past decade, social media has grown significantly. There are multiple different platforms such as Tik Tok, Instagram, Snapchat, Pinterest, Twitter, Facebook, and VSCO. Those are the more popular platforms that users post pictures or videos on and talk to each other. Some of these pictures that are being posted are of the “wanted” body type. Those that are not happy with themselves could develop an eating disorder in order to look like the person in the picture.  Social media does contribute to the development of eating disorders such as anorexia, bulimia, and binge-eating disorders. 

Anorexia is when someone restricts their eating unhealthily. In order for a person to be anorexic, they do not have to be super skinny, any size person can be considered anorexic. An article by Eating Disorders Review said that “a residential treatment center in Chicago reported 30-50% of its teen patients were using social media to support their eating disorders. This has left many therapists, counselors, and others in the recovery community wondering how dangerous they are and what can be done to protect vulnerable teens” (GoodTherapy). In past years, a something called ‘thinspo’ has become popular. Thinspo is mostly pictures of people that have unrealistic and even unhealthy bodies. The point of it is to motivate people to get skinnier in damaging ways. There are also pro-ana (pro-anorexia) websites and social media accounts that post thinspo. The internet has become more aware of these accounts and has been banning anything related to the topic. Viewers of these pictures and videos could be provoked to stop eating and start working out excessively. Anorexia is hard on a persons’ body and makes it difficult to function. 

Bulimia is similar to anorexia in that it is done to help someone get skinnier and maintain or lose weight. In the disorder, people eat and then afterwards make themselves throw up or take some kind of laxatives to get what they ate out of their system. While on social media, “constantly scrolling through ‘perfect’ photos from friends, celebrities and models can leave you feeling very negatively about yourself. It’s human nature to compare yourself to others, and to feel envious or jealous of what someone else has” (Sundquist). There will always be someone else that someone wants to look like. If someone does not like how they look, they may feel sad. That sadness could lead them to eat a lot of food and then afterwards they again feel sorry for themselves and want to throw up to compensate for eating. Bulimia, like anorexia, leads to malnutrition and the body has to work extra to stay alive. Repeatedly throwing up can lead to a raw, painful throat and also tooth decay from the stomach acid. 

Binge Eating Disorder is different from both bulimia and anorexia because the person does not avoid keeping food in their body, they eat more than they want or need. An article called Social Media Effects on Eating Disorders found that “The average age of smartphone ownership has also dropped. In 2019, over two-thirds of children owned a smartphone by the age of 12, up from only 41% in 2015… Binge-eating disorder is the most common eating disorder in the United States” (Bergman). Binging on food can become addictive. Some people choose different coping mechanisms when it comes to a negative body image. Some starve themselves and some eat a lot. People can turn to food because it makes them feel comfortable, but in the end if they don’t burn their excess calories, it will be adde onto their body and they may end up even more unhappy. It is like a never-ending cycle. Binging is hard to stop along with other eating disorders. 

Anorexia nervosa, Bulimia nervosa, an Binge Eating Disorder can be learned from social media. Young kids shouls be looked after an monitored to make sure they do not look at harmful images or information. As hard as it is, getting help from a professional is one of the most helpful ways to stop an eating disorer. But first, the person who needs help must recognize that they have a problem and want to get better. Eating disorders do not ever really go away, the person just falls out of their habits, but there are times when people relapse and go back to old ways. There are hotlines that people can call to get help, or talking to a trusted adult can help. More awareness also needs to be spread about social media and how not everything on there is real.