Effects of anorexia

Effects of eating disorders in our society are too often ignored. In America today, you see, thinness is viewed as healthiness. Even people who are unhealthily skinny – actresses whose bones can be seen through their paper-thin skin – are viewed as symbols of health and glamor. Unfortunately the effects of anorexia are serious – more serious by far than the effects of overeating. Ironically, in the quest to look skinny and beautiful, thousands of women every year destroy their health.

There are many short term effects of anorexia that can be easily noticed. If you are not eating, you do not give your body the energy to go about day-to-day activities. The effects of anorexia can include lethargy, depression, an ability to focus, and a lack of physical strength. People who are anorexic may look drawn and haggard all the time, even if they have had a full nights sleep. Another effect of anorexia is moodiness. Because their bodies are unable to stabilize their blood sugar levels, anorexics are subject to frequent mood swings. Basically, a bad enough anorexic will be indistinguishable from a junkie except for the absence of track marks. They will be tragic, moody, and incredibly thin.

The long-term effects of anorexia, however, are much more dangerous. Eventually, after being in starvation mode for long enough, the body starts to consume itself. Muscle tissues will be broken down, organs will start to fail, and the digestive tract will start to atrophy. These effects of anorexia are not just uncomfortable, they can be fatal. Sometimes, the girls who die from anorexia are the most glamorous and popular girls. No one knows what is going on until it is too late. Somehow, the unrealistic body expectations of our culture blind us to the fact that girls are starving themselves to death within our midst.

Of course, the emotional effects of anorexia cannot be discounted either. Even when young women survive anorexia, they may be scarred emotionally from it. These women go through their whole lives thinking that they are too fat. No matter how thin they get, it cannot be possibly be thin enough. They look in the mirror and see a fat ugly blob staring back at them. Like the effects of bulimia nervosa, anorexia can make it impossible for girls to develop a healthy body image. Even if they are able to recover from the anorexia, a lack of self-confidence often follows these girls to their graves.

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