Dying To Be Thin Analysis

The Nova “Dying to be Thin”, video discusses anorexia and bulimia and how it impacts the lives and health of those who suffer from these conditions. I also watched the YouTube video “The Starving Art” both videos focused on the high demands of being a ballerina and the unrealistic expectation of thinness and how the industry is trying to adapt to the challenge.

According to the Mayo Clinic there are 8 million people that suffer from the anorexia which is a “36% increase every 5 year since the 1950’s” and 3 out of every 100 girls will develop anorexia or bulimia and 10% of them will die from the condition. Anorexia nervosa “an eating disorder characterized by excessive with loss, an irrational fear of gaining weight, and distorted body self-perception”

From the extreme case of Heidi Guenther a ballerina that died from starvation to Erin a young dancer struggling to conform to the expectation to be thin which led her to becoming unhealthy and anorexia. The video is a great discussion on our society’s expectation and admiring thinness yet how it can be a very destructive pursuit for so many if it is not managed from establishing heathy dieting patterns and realistic expectations. I found it interesting that the bodies reaction to starvation or binging was very much like a drug and that the brain llower serotonin levels to reduce anxiety and then the brain quickly adapts and so it becomes a cycle like drug so in order to feel good you have to continue to starve or purge even more excessive to get the same feeling. Like drug addiction in order to be treated the most effective treatments incorporate a holistic approach to the person needs to address the underlining issues and symptoms simultaneously and a number of professions are used to help address the challenge nutritionals, body image specialist, and psychotherapist and a