Below is a copy of a student's rough draft for your reference. Even though it is a rough draft, it is an excellent response to the essay 2 response. You will notice it lacks a conclusion. And the blue notes just reference my notes to the writer; just ignore them.
What’s Eating You?
According
to the National Eating Disorder Association, eating disorders, such as anorexia
nervosa and bulimia nervosa, have the highest mortality rate of any mental
illness. People suffering from these diseases die before the age of twenty-four
due to complications including heart attacks and suicide. Eating disorders can
be extremely traumatic both physically and emotionally, to both the sufferer
and the family. Caring for someone with an eating disorder is often difficult and
overwhelming at times. Once someone is diagnosed with an eating disorder, the
family must watch their loved one struggle with a major medical and emotional
problem that could end in death if not cared for properly. When someone is
suffering from an eating disorder, they experience a tremendous amount of pain;
however, this disease impacts family members more.
Eating disorders include extreme
thoughts and behaviors surrounding food, weight, and body image. The disorders
cause extreme emotional and physical stress that can lead to life threatening[CF2] consequences if not treated. The most
common diagnosed eating disorders are anorexia[CF3] nervosa and bulimia nervosa. Anorexia
nervosa is characterized by self-starvation and extreme weight loss. Most
people who suffer from anorexia nervosa have an intense and often irrational[CF4] fear of weight gain (National Eating
Disorder Association). People who suffer from anorexia nervosa have
psychological complications as well. These complications include anxiety as a
child, low self-esteem and body image, severe depression, and an obsession with
rules and perfection (Nordqvist). Because anorexia involves self-starvation,
the body is denied of essential nutrients it needs to function and begins to
slow down its processes in order to preserve energy. This “slow down” process
can have serious medical consequences. The heart rate begins to slow down[CF5] which can result in heart attack or
heart failure. A person may also develop severe dehydration which can cause the
kidneys to fail. With the combination of medical and psychological[CF6] complications, about five to twenty
percent of people suffering with anorexia will die (Nordqvist). This statistic
is higher depending on how long a person is suffering with this illness.
Bulimia nervosa is characterized by
binge eating followed by purging. A person suffering from bulimia often engages
in compulsive binges on high-calorie foods and purges after feeling a loss of
control (“What is Bulimia Nervosa?”). During an episode of binging, a person
may consume up to 3,000 calories. The binge is then followed by feelings of
guilt or shame, which lead to compensatory actions such as self-induced
vomiting, over-exercising, self-starvation, or abuse of diuretics or laxatives
(Nordqvist). Bulimia is particularly dangerous because sufferers do not display
the same rapid weight loss as found in anorexia. In fact, someone’s weight may
stay the same, making it easier to overlook and possibly misdiagnose (“What is
Bulimia Nervosa?”).This disorder can result from many of the same psychological
complications as found in people suffering from anorexia nervosa.
For many years, eating disorder
diagnoses had two main entries: anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. However,
modern research reveals that these two categories of eating disorders fall
short. The American Psychiatric Association introduced a new category of eating
disorders: EDNOS, eating disorders not otherwise specified (“New Eating
Disorders”). EDNOS contains sub-diagnoses for patients that do not meet exact
criteria for anorexia or bulimia. This new diagnoses include “orthorexia”, a
fixation with healthy or organic eating, “pregorexia”, extreme dieting and
exercising while pregnant to avoid the twenty-five to thirty pound weight gain,
“binge eating”, compulsive overeating, and “anorexia athletica”, which is an addiction
to working out. Eating disorders develop from negative relationships and
obsessions with food. These disorders can range from diagnosable illnesses to
dangerous fixations.
Beginning stages of disordered eating
can often be confused with “normal” adolescence behavior and early symptoms can
be overlooked. Often, parents are not able to recognize signs of an eating
disorder in their child. This makes the parent feel guilty and partially
responsible for the diagnosis. Peggy Claude-Pierre describes, “After the
diagnosis, I started reading everything I could about anorexia. I wanted to
discover how I had failed my child.” This is a very common response. Many
parents take full responsibility for their child’s eating disorder. Marie Caro,
the mother of the French model Isabella Caro, committed suicide one year after
her daughter lost her battle with anorexia (Burton). The question of blame and
where it lies within anorexia and other eating disorders is very complex. Although
there is no one cause for eating disorders, much has been written about the
roles of family members and parenting as causes of eating disorders (National
Eating Disorder Association). This information frequently contributes to the
guilt parents feel after discovering their child’s eating disorder. “Everything
I read told me that bad parenting, parental pressure, and family stress, among
other ‘issues’ were the cause”, Claude-Pierre[CF7] explains.
Other parents feel an immense amount of
shame. Eating disorders can be shameful because a parent may not want to admit
that their child has one. “In the four years my daughter was anorexic, I never
told a single person. I did not even tell my father. I was ashamed that she had[CF8] that kind of disease. I was ashamed of
myself for feeling ashamed” (Godbey). The feeling of shame is associated with
the idea that a parent is the main cause for the eating disorder. When someone
develops this kind of life-threatening illness, it is hard for loved ones to
come to terms with why it happened. Many parents also feel hopeless in treating
a disease when it is hard to find the underlying cause. Judy Avrin explains, “I
spent a great time in denial about Melissa’s eating disorder. Her father didn’t
understand the diagnosis. We felt hopeless”. Parents are at a constant battle.
They are battling for their child’s life, parenting while they combat their own
feelings of denial and guilt, and they are battling with the many
misconceptions about eating disorders. This becomes increasingly stressful on
the parents. Many times parents begin to ignore their own personal life in
order to care for a child with an eating disorder. This often affects other
relationships that the parent has, including the relationships with their other
children.
Caring for a child with an eating
disorder causes changes for a family. Often times, the family has to
re-organize themselves around the illness. This re-organization has very
significant effects on all members of the family, including the siblings.
Siblings of a child suffering from anorexia, bulimia, or EDNOS face many
difficult challenges while growing up with this unwanted guest in their home. Because
the child with an eating disorder needs a great amount of attention, the
parents’ find it difficult to divide that attention to the other children. Meal
times can[CF9] be excruciatingly difficult. “My
sister decided that she couldn’t eat with me at the table. I was a little
overweight and her illness decided that my fat was contagious. My parents had
me eat in the living room with Grandma at meal times” (“My Sister and Me:
Anorexia Nervosa). Karin Jasper, Ph.D, has spent a great deal of
time studying eating disorders and the effects on the siblings. She explains
that naturally siblings feel resentful towards the illness. The stress often
drives a wedge between the ill child and the siblings. Karin Jasper says, “One
of my patient’s sisters found the illness difficult to deal with. She moved
away from home. She never went back to living at home. She said she felt the
house would have exploded because she didn’t understand why her sister was
being so selfish[CF10]”.
According to the National Eating Disorder
Association, during the treatment period eating disorders can cause a child to
react and behave irrationally. The ill child resorts to lying and has extreme
mood swings that involve hitting, screaming and biting. The child will lash out
at whoever is around due to frustration. These extreme emotions can affect the
siblings as well. Addy recalls, “I remember my sisters screaming sessions. She
would just scream at dinner time. To[CF11] be honest, it just made me annoyed and I would
normally lose my appetite. I just stopped eating with my family.” Sarah K.
Ravin, Ph.D. explains that family meals with an ill child can sometimes become
explosive. The ill child may feel overwhelmed with the parents’ attempts to get
them to eat. Out of frustration, the child may say or do things that are very
harsh to both the parents and anyone in their path, including the siblings. Siblings
often say that they dread meals because they know they
will either be very tense or explosive. An anonymous blogger recalls, “My
sister used to say really mean things to me. I know it wasn’t her, but she
would just tell me to fuck off and die. She also threw things at me. All of
this would normally happen a few hours before dinner, during dinner, or a few
hours after” (“My Sister and Me: Anorexia Nervosa”).
Sarah K. Ravin also explains that children feel
like they lose a sense of a social life. Because the parents spend much time
planning, preparing, and supervising meals, the siblings feel that they cannot
spend time with their parents socially. Parents also spend a great deal of time
driving to and from appointments for their ill child. “I remember I had to ask
different friends to take me to soccer practice. My parents would also miss
games because Liz was having a meltdown the morning of my games”, an anonymous
blogger illustrates (“My Sister and Me: Anorexia Nervosa”). Ms. Ravin further
explains that siblings may feel a great deal of embarrassment and do not invite
their friends over. They also have difficulties deciding if they should even
explain their family situation to friends. Brothers and sisters will experience
a variety of emotions while their sibling is ill. They can range from worry
about their sibling’s health to resentment about the illness. “This can affect
how the child copes with their own feelings and emotions. They may not know how
or who to talk to. They also have to deal with the stigma of a mental illness
at a very young age”, Sarah K Ravin says[CF12].
