Question

Why are eating disorders considered an addiction in some circles? Outline the etiology of an eating disorder. Include biology, environment, personality, and other issues that may contribute. How do attachment issues enter into the etiology of an eating disorder?

What precipitates an exercise addiction?

Answer 1

Note: This response is in UK English, please paste the response to MS Word and you should be able to spot discrepancies easily. You may elaborate the answer based on personal views or your classwork if necessary.

(Answer) A behaviour can be classified as an addiction when the brain gets accustomed to the action/drug etc. but the body has not coped. For instance, a gram of marijuana can get an individual high for about 3 hours. A few months later the individual’s brain and nervous system are accustomed to 1 gram, the high may last only for 1 hour. This would cause the person to intake more marijuana to stay high for longer. However, the body still bears the effects of the gram of marijuana like it did in the beginning. This causes the body to bear the severe effects of an overdose.

An eating disorder is similar in the sense that the amount of weight loss initially endured might not please the person with the eating disorder after a while. They might want to be thinner after being accustomed to what they see in the mirror. This would be until their body would succumb to the effects of the disorder.

The aetiology of an eating disorder is primarily due to psychological perceptions enforced by societal expectations and incubated by thoughts of personal insecurities. Biologically, the body does not get the required source of energy that comes in the form of healthy food at intervals of the day. The person generally starves or pukes out the food they eat. This affects the digestive system, the muscles, the immune system and a cohort of other biological factors as not eating goes against the very laws of nature.

The environments that most patients are exposed to are those that highlight and constantly remind them of how they do not conform to society’s standards of what is considered “beautiful.” Presumably, patients with eating disorders fail to realise that “beauty” is an opinion and not a reality. This is why different individuals find different people attractive. It is perhaps equally wrong to think that naturally thin is wrong as it is to think that naturally, fat is wrong.

Furthermore, the personality that the environment rears is equally to blame for an eating disorder. Impressionable girls and boys need to understand that it is important to eat healthy and stay fit through the correct means. Some individuals are born to be aesthetically pleasing, while others might not be endowed with the same qualities. Not every individual needs to look like what pop-culture propagates. A sense of security does not come from ignoring the flaws but rather from accepting them and celebrating them.

Attachment issues have two markers in an eating disorder. Firstly, attachment to a certain image or goal that is desired and secondly, attachment to the ways of addiction that are hard to give up when one tries to rehabilitate themselves. These are more psychological than biological. An individual would require shifting their attachments towards a healthy goal or a healthy lifestyle in order to truly decide to give up the ways of an addiction.

An exercise addiction is generally closely linked to an individual’s goals in terms of their biology. There might be individuals who are addicted to exercise for different reasons. For instance, internal health, beating genetic conditions, losing weight and others. This might constitute an addiction simply because a curated amount is generally not going to be enough after the brain is accustomed and wants more to satisfy certain perceptions.