Revise paper sections to fix professors comments

The Causes of Anorexia Nervosa

[student’s name]

[student’s class]

[date of paper]

As the summer approaches, I hear more and more girls talk about how they need to lose

weight. They are more restrictive in their diet, and they more frequently visit the gym for their

exercise. As a female, I admit that I share the same thoughts. If I want to go to the beach and

look good in a bathing suit, then I better exercise more and eat healthier foods. I find that those

thoughts are common between me, my girlfriends, and other women.

However, there are some women who take the concept of losing weight to an extreme.

This idea stays in their mind far beyond summer time and can last throughout their entire

lifetime. These women, by drastically reducing their food intake, continuously lose weight to the

point they become frail and dangerously thin. Yet, if they look at themselves in the mirror, they

do not see how thin they have become. Rather, they are stuck in the mindset where they have to

lose more weight. If a person weighs less than 85% of their recommended weight, he or she has

developed anorexia nervosa.

Though both men and women can develop this eating disorder, it is commonly seen in

women, especially during the time of adolescence and young adulthood. I understand that my

girlfriends and I do think about and occasionally scrutinize our bodies, but does that mean we are

at risk for developing an eating disorder? Throughout this paper, I will try and answer the

question, “What causes a person to develop anorexia nervosa?” I will use the biopsychosocial

approach and study how our environment, the way we think, and our genetic makeup, might

affect us and lead us to develop anorexia nervosa.

Looking through a socio-cultural lens, one factor that may contribute to anorexia nervosa

is if a person is living in a society whose cultural ideal is to be thin. Compared to other countries,

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the U.S. places emphasis on a woman to have a slender figure. But in a country like Africa,

“thinness” is not a cultural ideal. Rather, it is a social stigma. If a female is thin in Africa, one

assumes that she is sick with AIDS, has a low status, or is not well taken care of. (Damhorst et al,

2005). This may be a reason why there are fewer accounts of anorexia nervosa in Africa than in

the U.S. In the U.S. “thinness” is a cultural ideal, and this message is relayed to us through

different types of media such as television and magazines. Today there are more modeling shows

such as ‘America’s Next Top Model’ and ‘The Face.’ These shows glorify thin women. As

women watch these shows, they are exposed to other women who are not necessarily of normal

weight or body make-up. These women are thin either because they are under a strict diet and

spend countless hours a day exercising, or they are just naturally thin and represent the very few

women who are at the low end of the weight scale. (Polivy & Herman, 2007). Another way the

media imparts the “skinny” mentality is through magazines. As women browse through

magazines like ‘Glamour,’ ‘Cosmopolitan,’ or ‘Allure,’ there are various ads that feature women

who seem to have flawless bodies. However, some of these photos may be edited to alter a

woman’s body and make her skinnier. Through television and magazines, we are constantly

exposed to many images of thin women, so much so that a person can believe it to be normal.

Consequently, many women become dissatisfied with their own bodies. This dissatisfaction can

cause a person to try and lose weight.

In addition to the media, one’s family may have a profound impact on a person

developing anorexia nervosa. A family member may encourage the development of anorexia

nervosa if he or she also possesses an eating disorder. The idea is that if a person is undergoing a

diet, the child will observe and later model that same behavior, perhaps developing an eating

disorder later on in his or her life. A family member can also inform the child that he or she is fat

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and needs to lose some weight. People who had anorexia nervosa usually had family members

who were critical, unsupportive, or uncaring (Polivy & Herman, 2002). In “Mothers, daughters,

disordered eating,” they conducted an experiment to see how mothers influenced their daughters

who had anorexia nervosa. They had two groups: girls with anorexia nervosa and their mothers,

and the comparison group of normal girls and their mothers. What they found was that in terms

of family cohesion, the mother of the girl with the eating disorder felt that there could be more

cohesion within the family. These mothers, compared to the mothers in the comparison group,

were also more eating disordered and started dieting at a younger age. In addition, the mothers

were more critical of their daughters, rating their daughters less attractive compared to other

girls, and saying that their daughters should lose more weight. In the comparison group, the

mothers and daughters rating of the daughter’s attractiveness were closer together. (Pike &

Rodin, 1991). Being surrounded by a negative and body conscious environment are plausible

reasons why a female may develop anorexia nervosa.

If we look at the development of anorexia nervosa through a psychological lens, there

may be other causes. The way a person thinks, feels, or views a situation may lead to this illness.

A person who has a tendency to try and be perfect can be at risk. For example, if a woman

internalizes the idea that being thin is perfect, but her body is not like that, she will more than

likely disapprove of their current body image and make strides to change it. She will go on diets

to make her body “perfect.”

A person who has a set way of thinking and is obsessive can also develop anorexia

nervosa. For example, a female may obsess over her weight, body image, or the food she eats.

Nonetheless, having some sort of obsession is common among people with eating disorders. In

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one study they found that 74% of people with eating disorders spent more than three hours a day

on obsessive thoughts while 42% spent more than eight hours a day. (Polivy & Herman, 2002).

Some women can develop anorexia nervosa if they feel like they lack control in some

aspect of their lives. Maybe they possess an external locus of control. Because of this, they may

regulate the amount of food that they eat because they feel it is the only thing they have control

over (Polivy & Herman, 2002).

Compared to the research found for the social and psychological impact on anorexia

nervosa, research on the genetic influence on this illness is still in its infancy. At the moment,

researchers still have not been able to say if there is a gene which directly influences anorexia

nervosa, and how it does so (Klump & Culbert, 2007). But twin studies suggest that anorexia

nervosa is heritable by 50%-75%. Current research is being done on biological systems known to

affect food intake – serotonin, BDNF, and estrogen.

Serotonin is known for regulating appetite. In some animal studies, researchers increased

the animal’s serotonin which decreased its eating behavior. When they decreased the serotonin

level, the animal exhibited binge eating behavior (Yu & Pao-Yen, 2010). BDNF is a protein

within the brain that influences also influences food intake. If a person has higher levels of

BDNF, his or her appetite will be suppressed. Researchers are specifically looking at the Met66

variant of the BDNF gene since it may be responsible for regulating the amount of BDNF protein

in the brain. Researchers have also examined estrogen because not only does it affect a person’s

appetite, but it is also involved in the transcription of genes, namely serotonin and BDNF. What

is also intriguing is that the serotonin and BDNF systems function slightly different in males and

females, which may be a result of there being more estrogen in females than in males. (Klump &

Culbert, 2007). High estrogen levels may also be the reason why girls develop eating disorders

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after puberty. Their bodies are undergoing hormonal changes, and they are developing more

estrogen. When a girl goes through puberty, certain regions of her brain are affected, such as the

hippocampus and amygdala. These areas are not only associated with mood and anxiety

disorders, but also with the long-term course of eating disorders (Herpertz-Dahlmann et al,

2011).

Looking at all the possible causes for anorexia nervosa, it is difficult to say what the

exact cause for this illness is. From the socio-cultural standpoint, I understand how the

environment may influence a person to lose weight and possibly develop anorexia nervosa. If a

person is in a culture that idealizes “thinness,” than normally a person will try to reach that

standard. That cultural ideal is impressed into women’s minds constantly through television and

magazines as something they should achieve. Frequent exposure makes women more aware of

their own bodies and how they differ from what is presented unto them. This causes body

dissatisfaction which can lead to women trying to lose weight. But socio-cultural factors may not

be the sole reason why a person develops anorexia nervosa. For example, if we all are exposed to

the same shows or same magazines, why is it that we all are not suffering from this illness?

There must be other possible reasons. If we look at the psychological perspective, a person who

strives for perfection may be at risk for developing this illness. A female may take the cultural

ideal and try to achieve that goal. Yet still, not everyone has that mindset. So then what

distinguishes one person from another? Researchers seem to think that there may be a genetic

cause and are looking at the biological systems which influence our food intake. I do think that

genetics can play a role. If there is a genetic variation in the systems that control our appetite,

that might very well influence whether or not we feel like eating. If we do not feel like eating,

then we can place ourselves in that state where we do not eat and fall beneath a desired weight,

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thereby becoming anorexic. Though there may be a genetic influence, more research still needs

to be done.

Reviewing all the possible reasons a person can develop anorexia nervosa, I do not think

one factor alone causes this illness. I believe that the factors work together. If we are more

susceptible genetically to eating less food, maybe the cultural ideal to be skinny will give us a

reason not to eat.

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REFERENCES

Damhorst, M.L., Miller-Spillman, K.A., Michelman, S.O. (Ed.). (2005). The Meanings of Dress

(2nd ed.). NY: Fairchild Publications

Herpertz-Dalmann, B., Seitz, J., & Konrad, K. (2011). Aetiology of anorexia nervosa: from a

“psychosomatic family model” to a neuropsychiatric disorder? European Archives of

Psychiatry & Clinical Neuroscience, 261, 177-181. Doi:10.1007/s00406-011-0246-y

Klump. K.L., & Culbert, K.M. (2007). Molecular Genetic Studies of Eating Disorders: Current

Status and Future Directions. Current Directions in Psychological Science (Wiley-

Blackwell), 16(1), 37-41. Doi:10.1111/j.1467-8721.2007.00471.x

Pike, K.M., & Rodin J.J. (1991). Mothers, daughters, and disordered eating. Journal of

Abnormal Psychology, 100(2), 198-204

Polivy, J., & Herman, C. (2002). CAUSES OF EATING DISORDERS. Annual Review of

Psychology, 53(1), 187-213

Yu, L. & Pao-Yen, L. (2010). Association between serotonin transporter gene polymorphism

and eating disorders: A meta-analytic study. International Journal of Eating Disorders,

43(6), 498-504.