Adolescent Eating Disorders: The Impact of Social Media - Essay Sample

Introduction

Eating disorders have become a prevalent problem among many adolescents. Eating disorder is a mental illness ascribed to the thoughts and feelings of a person. Food disorders may result from alterations in food behavior, depression, and perspective on body size and shape. Due to the high literacy levels and access to the internet, the thoughts and feelings of most adolescents are influenced by what they come across on the internet and social media. Adolescent thoughts are likely to be misled by contents in social media platforms. An example is a fat girl hating her body size and shape due to a post on social media that suggested a slim fit body is the appropriate body size. Such thoughts and feelings will ultimately lead to eating disorders. Therefore the best solution is to help the affected person to change the distorted thoughts and attitude.

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Firstly, our thoughts and feelings have a major impact on our behavior. Negative thoughts will probably lead to bad behavior that is harmful to an individual. Eating disorders include anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge eating disorder (Agras, Walsh, Fairburn, Wilson, & Kraemer, 2000). Adolescence and the physical body changes associated with it is the major biological cause of eating disorders among many teenagers. Adolescents may display symptoms like rapid weight loss or weight gain, exorbitant physical activity, change of behavior around food, and feeling disconsolate about body shape and size. Dieting is also another cause of food eating disorders among adolescents. Adolescents tend to restrict their consumption to particular foods and avoid other foods or would avoid some meals to control their body size.

A majority of adolescents prefer self-help since they fear to share their troubles. The acts of secrecy among adolescents may eventually lead to depression or intensive eating disorders. The abrupt solution has to be given immediately; symptoms of eating disorders are realized in an adolescent. The best solution to eating disorders among adolescents is to change their distorted thoughts and feelings. Through cognitive behavior therapy, adolescents can be helped to control their eating disorders.

Cognitive behavior therapy entails talking to the patients and making them understand the notion that influences their behavior (Agras et al., 2000). Since eating disorders among adolescents is majorly influenced by social perceptions and ideas, the thoughts and feelings of adolescents can be altered and managed through cognitive behavior therapy. Cognitive Behavior Therapy provides a wide range of treatment including treatment on anxiety, depression, mental and physical disorders. According to the study that aimed at studying the relative effects of CBT-E and IPT (Interpersonal psychotherapy), 66% of patients who used CBT were in remission as compared to the33% who used IPT (Agras et al., 2000).CBT gives a long term solution since the patients who underwent the CBT treatment did not require further therapy according to the 60-week post medication analysis.

CBT is also the most effective since it is a psychological type of medication therapy that focuses substantially on adjusting eating behaviors, weight control, body size, and shape (Agras et al., 2000). According to the study on behavior research and therapy, CBT has the highest rating on sustainability, expectancy, and therapy quality. The mean for CBT sustainability was recorded to be 76.6. Post-treatment records of CBT in the study demonstrate a tremendous decrease in eating disorders. Three-quarters of patients who underwent the treatment reported that they no longer experience the binge eating, vomiting, or any of the eating disorder symptoms.

Strengths and Weaknesses of the Research

The study on the effectiveness of CBT and IPT proved to be excellent research due to the eligible procedures followed. Firstly, the research was conducted on patients with eating disorders in a clinic in UK. The targeted population is relevant to the study since the population involved consisted fully of patients with eating disorders. Secondly, the group of patients under study was assessed before and after treatment and a follow-up of over 20 weeks was done after treatment. This ensured that the results are perfect. The study also used a large sample size of over 65 participants who were randomly selected. The sample size gave 80% representation of the whole population which is an excellent figure for representation in statistics. The patients under study were restricted from having further treatment during the follow-up period thus ensuring that the results on the effectiveness of CBT were accurate.

However, the research also had flaws which to some extent restricted the results from giving the perfect general view of reality about CBT. The research was restricted to patients with a BMI of over 17.5 and below 40.0. This restriction tends to sever a large part of the population having similar eating disorders. The study also majored on adult patients, and therefore the results might be totally different if the study was based on children or teenagers.

Global Assessment

The evidence produced by the study was assessed categorically. Eating disorder features were assessed by the Eating Disorder Examination Interview (EDE). General psychiatric features were measured by the structured Clinical Interview, and psychosocial impairment secondary to eating disorder features was measured using the Clinical Impairment Assessment questionnaire. The study received a global EDE score of below one standard deviation (Agras et al., 2000).

Conclusion

In conclusion, the choice of a type of therapy depends on the effectiveness of the therapy, affordability, long term impact of the therapy and the nature and traits of the patient. CBT is an efficient, reliable, and affordable type of therapy. CBT aims at managing problems by changing thoughts, beliefs, attitudes, and emotions that influence the behavior of someone. Eating disorders in adolescents are majorly caused by their thoughts and the general perception in the society about ideal an ideal body. Therefore, the best remedy for eating disorders among adolescents is Cognitive Behavior Therapy.

Reference

Agras, W., Walsh, B., Fairburn, C. G., Wilson, G., & Kraemer, H. (2000). A multicenter comparison of cognitive-behavioral therapy and interpersonal psychotherapy for bulimia nervosa. Archives of General Psychiatry, 57, 459e466.http:// dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2015.04.010.