Eating Disorders?

Should these be classed as a mental health issue?
Or should they be diagnosed as part of the media/public view on how one should look?

Do we as a society need to address what we portray as being the 'norm'?

Statistically 1.1 millions people in the U.K alone suffer from an eating disorder.
1 in 20 women have some form of control over what they eat...


Your views?

i think it's definitely a mental health issue ... however , we live in a country that is constantly telling us we're too fat and then wonders why that encourages the increase of both anorexia and bullimia ..i heard last week that there's a huge increase in eating disorders amongst young men now ... so the weight nazis are really making a mess of things .

says you who calls 136lbs obese ok.

I see it as a lack of self discipline which is more a form of immaturity than it is a psychological impairment.

Yet, it must be tough for women these days. All those body images that they are supposed to live up to, would drive me mad if I was female! Different for men as I don't feel pressurised into confirming to a body type.

Well you don't have any worries as there is not a peck on ya!

yes, but you must realize that i was talking in the context of (a) the movie itself ..and (b) her size in relation to her appearance in her other movies ... and come on wednesday , i used that word because i was trying to avoid the other word which may sound offensive to some .

Yeah it should be. Mental disorders can affect the physical, as can be shown through symptoms of depression and schizophrenia. Anorexia is no different in that it works on two levels.

The media doesn't help when it comes to things like this, but then it doesn't do a lot for other mental disorders really (though I think that is slowly beginning to change). Ultimately though, it's up to the thought processes of the individual and those who they choose to surround themselves with. I think that blaming it solely on the media reduces the significance of the issue as it's more complex than that.

That's not to say that the media shouldn't try and promote a healthier view of weight though. There's always going to be a normative ideal in terms of what is supposedly the most attractive, but if the media can try and widen the range to be inclusive of all body types and emphasise health over appearance then that can only be good.

Thanks for that Sigmund.

I see it as, someone who is really insecure within themselves. who wants to please others..who wants to be normal?

I believe that when an issue arises in eating it becomes a habit/addiction. It becomes part of who that person is.

It is hard to defeat, it is even harder to acknowledge...

Well never been there so can't comment, all I know is the day I look down and can't see my d***, I'll know it's time to diet.

me neither maw ..but an increasing number of young men are feeling that pressure ...there's a young man on big brother at the moment ..in fact there's two ... they have perfect bodies ... and i know for a fact that i'm not going to be able to look at myself naked in a full length mirror until they are evicted .

Err, you're a man and you shouldn't be looking at yourself naked in the mirror anyway! Dude, we don't do that, put your clothes on and put one foot in front of the other until it's bed time.

i think there's only a tiny minority of people who , through compulsive eating are not 'normal' ..i mean those poor souls who have to have the house demolished to get them to hospital .

like i said maw ..no naked inspections until those airbrushed pretty boys are kicked out of the big bro' house ... then it's back to normal .