“Gosh, how fat can I get?” This is a thought that crosses many teens’ minds. I’m sure that if you’re a teenage girl (or boy) you probably are agreeing with me. Don’t get me wrong! Being concerned with you’re weight is alright, sometimes. But concern can turn into an obsession and that is where it gets ugly.
Anorexia Nervosa is only one of the eating disorders that strike young teens today. Defined from the medical dictionary CancerWeb, anorexia is “the uncontrolled lack or loss of the appetite for food.” Too many adolescents see that this disorder is a simple solution to their weight issues. Of course, I can understand that because it’s a “quick and easy way to lose weight,” but in reality it’s the worst solution. It is what I call, a slow death trap.
At first anorexics don’t seem to be suffering, but that’s what makes the disorder so awful. An understandable thing to compare it with is cancer. At first cancer is unnoticeable because it starts out small, but once it spreads and gets larger, it almost seems hopeless to make it go away. It is the same thing with Anorexia. It gets bigger and bigger until its too large for the scrawny body its attacking. Then it’s just stuck there.
As a past anorexic, I feel obligated to send the message out to other teens that anorexia is really not the way to go. It’s a terrible habit and it gets you extremely sick. Do you know why it gets you sick? Because you’re immune system gets so weak from not eating, it can’t fight off a simple cold. People who start starving themselves think that they will lose all their fat. They are far from being correct. When you don’t eat, your body goes into a starvation mode and says, “hey I’m not getting the certain things I need to give me energy, strength, and warmth, so I got to keep this fat.” So really, you keep your fat, but you lose your muscle. Starting to get the picture?
There are physical things that happen to an anorexic’s body that is just repulsive. Because they don’t get the nutrition they need to keep them warm, they grow more hair then the body needs. Getting absolutely toothpick thin isn’t exactly attractive either. Oh yeah, and if you like you’re hair real thick and beautiful, you probably shouldn’t become anorexic as your hair becomes thinner from lack of nutrients.
Although there are physical changes in an anorexic, there are also mental changes. Like I said before, losing weight becomes an obsession and that can mess up someone’s self esteem and pride. When someone is obsessed with their weight they will do anything to keep food out of their stomach, even puke becoming an anorexic and bulimic. When it does get to the point of throwing up, it’s harder and harder to get better. That’s where denial comes in. Denial, denial, denial. It’s the number one sign of a disorder. Denial can lead to A BUNCH of psychotic problems, which is obviously not very exciting.
So anyway, for the sake of the teens of today’s world, spread the word about anorexia nervosa. Make it seem as if it were the worst thing in the world, cause it IS on that list! If you are currently anorexic, PLEASE GET PROFESSIONAL HELP.