Eating disorder Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Eating disorder - Essay Example The image in the media, which is a construct, proves to be a great influence in deciding the way young girls want to look and hence, I too was influenced by it. To add to it, frequent comparisons are made by people regarding the weight of an individual also proved to be a big factor. As I was on the heavier side, I started feeling that I was unattractive and I could not concentrate on anything but just the ways to reduce weight. Initially, it began with a simple harmless dieting plan to get off the excess carbohydrates, but slowly it became a habit and later an obsession. The goal was to get to the next lower size. Additionally, I started exercising also and soon began to work out in a compulsive manner. By controlling my need to eat, I was got the feeling that I could control my body in the way I wanted to and hence, the initial feeling was that of happiness and euphoria. Later, even though I knew that the habit of not eating was bad, I could not have any control over it. I could st ay without food for days and even after I ate, I would immediately vomit it off. Though I do not recall exactly how many times I would vomit in a day, I knew that it was proving to be very difficult obsession both physically and mentally. Even though, I do not remember how exactly a simple exercise to reduce weight became a big obsession. It is true indeed that memory gets faded and hence, I am not able to recollect the exact details. The notion of memory getting faded holds good even with slave narratives. For example, Emma Crockett admits that she remembers the whippings, but her memory fails her on whether the whippings were good or bad (Tart, 1997). The obsession of not eating and looking thin and lean began to take its toll on me very soon. I realized that I could not eat anything even if I wanted to, because my body began to react and vomit out the food on its own. I started feeling tired and depressed. Even though my weight reduced considerably, I started feeling that it was not enough for me. After some time, I once had a fainting episode and the body became extremely weak and fragile. Depression and anxiety also set in; hence, I was under physical as well as mental stress due to the obsession of losing weight. With the suggestion of my friends, I decided to get in touch with a dietician who could help me get over this obsession. I was put through rehabilitation that was an intensive program that helped me get over my mental obsession with my physical self. There were withdrawal symptoms, but slowly the results started showing and I started recognizing the need to respect the body. The counseling sessions proved to be good revelations. I came across information that showed how stereotyping of female bodies’ results in the mental construct that being slim is beautiful. The obsession of being lean and slim takes away from the notion of healthiness. Even though most women do not have the ambition to become actors or model, they get attracted by the stereotype created by media and hence, get obsessed with weight loss. Though, it is healthy to lose excesses weight, the thin line between maintaining the correct weight and losing weight obsessively should always be drawn (Grogan and Wainwright 1996). More than everything, the one factor that helped me most was acceptance from family and friend and how they supported me throughout the process. Over the