Nicole Adkins Informative Speech How many of you have ever battled an eating disorder or known someone with an eating disorder? One or two of every 100 students will struggle or have struggled with an eating disorder. An anonymous quote from someone who struggled an eating disorder once said “Nothing matters when I’m thin”. Anyone of us in this room is at risk of an eating disorder. Females have to maintain that ‘normal’ look to fit in with society. More guys are seeking help for eating disorders as well.
Guys with eating disorders tend to focus more on athletic appearance or success than just on looking thin. I’m going to inform you today about anorexia; what it is, signs, causes, effects, and possible treatments to help it. First, I will tell you what anorexia is. People with anorexia have an extreme and irrational dread of becoming fat and they have a distorted view of their body size and shape. They will hardly eat at all and the small amounts of food they do eat become an obsession. When you suffer from anorexia, no matter who much you weight you have lost, its never enough.
There are two types of anorexia called Restricting Type and Purging Type. In Restricting Type weight loss is accomplishes by a very restrictive diet on calories. People who are restrictively anorexic follow drastic diets, go on fasts, and exercise in extreme amounts. The Purging Type simply vomit and use alternatives such as laxatives to lose the weight. I will now turn to signs of anorexia. When people begin to have an extreme fear of being or becoming fat that is one on the first warning signs.
Becoming very thin, frail or emaciated in a very short time period should shoot up red flags. Weighing herself or himself often, counting or proportioning food very carefully, pretending to eat, and denying being extremely thin are other signs of anorexia. A person that is suffering anorexia might suffer depression and become lethargic, which is a person who lacks energy. Let us now examine three of the causes of anorexia. People can have a biological risk of anorexia. Some people can be genetically vulnerable to developing anorexia.
Researchers have discovered an area on chromosome 1 that appears to be associated with an increased susceptibility to anorexia. Others can suffer from psychological reasons. People that feel low self-worth sometimes become anorexic to make themselves feel better. Anorexia’s may have an extreme drive for perfectionism, which means they may never thing they’re thin enough. A lot of people suffer because of sociocultural reasons. The media is filled with images of thin models and actors, which associates success and worth with being thin.
Peer pressure from friends, coworkers, and classmates also causes some people to feel there not fitting it. We must also consider the effects of anorexia. People with anorexia experience hair loss and fingernail breakage. Women who suffer will begin to have period loss. Those who continue to be anorexic without getting help can become anemic and even begin to develop very brittle bones. Anorexia is a serious medical illness, and with severe malnutrition anorexia can also cause death. Finally, we will look at possible treatments for anorexia.
People that suffer can get better and gradually learn to eat normally again. Anorexia involves both mind and body. Therapy or counseling is a critical part of treating eating disorders. In many cases family therapy is one of the keys to eating healthily again. Parents and other family members are important in helping the person see that his or her normal body shape is perfectly fine and that being too thin can become extremely dangerous. There is a toll free hotline that you can now call as well.
If you are suffering or you know anyone that is suffering and need advice you can call it. The National Eating Disorders Associations created it. Again, anorexia is a serious medical illness. It causes many deaths throughout young teens and adults every year, and we as society can no longer take it as a joke. I have given you signs, causes, effects, and treatment opportunities. Lets take what we learned and try and help those who need us. We as a group can help those who are too scared to get help for themselves. We, can make this world a better place one person at a time.
