Eating Disorders
Latonya Lewis
BEH/225
Pamela Applewhite
June 26, 2015

Most people think that hunger is all in one’s stomach; however, research shows that this is not the case. Hunger is controlled by a complicated system of chemicals that transmit signals between one’s brain and the body. “The cells in the hypothalamus communicate with cells in other parts of the brain to coordinate the release and uptake of chemicals that help regulate how much and what you eat” (Kirby, Jane RD., 2014). Motivation seems to be the role of the primary drive for hunger, and motives is a category that has been identified as biological or primary; hunger and the managing of food intake. The hypothalamus is a small; however important, part of the brain. It controls motivation and emotion, such as hunger, thirst, sexual behavior, sleep, and body temperature. In the 1940s the Drive Reduction Theory of Motivation was widely used in explaining motivation, which states that the force behind motivation was the reduction of drives; hunger being an example of a drive. However this theory is not used much in today’s world. External and internal motivations both play a part in one’s eating habits, and they can affect one positively or negatively; internal motivations being one’s emotions and external motivations being our environment and culture. Negative effects such as over eating, not eating enough, or just poor eating habits can lead to eating disorders. Even though there is no one single cause for why someone develops an eating disorder, “…the answers remain multi-factorial, and they reflect a complex combination of bio psychosocial factors that may interest differently for each person” (Sheppard Pratt Health System, 2014). Intense behaviors, attitudes, and emotions regarding food and weight issues can also lead to eating disorders, and most of the time it is our culture and environment that influences and motivates our behavior. An example of how our environment can affect our eating habits is if one is always being told that they are fat while they are growing up, and there is a significant chance that they will believe this no matter how thin they are. This in turn can cause anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, or binge eating disorder. Chubby and curvaceous used to be the average body type; however, over the past years our culture has had a tremendous impact on the way we think we “ought” to look. The media and magazines portray women that are thin and seem to be perfect, and men are seen as being strong and masculine. This gives beliefs that being thin or strong will make them more happy and successful. “…individuals are even at greater risk of internalizing what they see on television as their personal standard of reality” (Engel, Bridget, Psy.D., Staats Reiss, Natalie, Ph.D., & Dombeck, Mark, Ph.D. 2005-2014). Unfortunately these extrinsic motivations can cause unhealthy eating and exercise habits, and sometimes it becomes extremely difficult to stop the negative habits. In the end serious eating disorders can arise, and can cause depression, anxiety, health problems, and even death. The first reported case of a male with an eating disorder was in 1689, and males today “…account for 10%-15% of bulimic patients… (Carlot, Camargo, and Heizog 1997), 5%-10% of anorectics (Braun, Sunday, Huang & Halmi 1999), and 40% of binge eating disorders…” (Russell and Keel 2002). Jockeys, wrestlers, and cage fighters are examples of situations where males are urged to keep a certain weight or muscle tone. These external motivations can cause the same eating disorders that women face. “…media influence of muscular male figures in advertisements create dissatisfaction in men” (Leit, Gray, and Pope 2001). It seems that men are not as likely as women to diet or want to lose weight. “Men associate binge eating with negative emotions of anger and depression”, while “women are more likely to associate bingeing with diet failure” (Wegenka, Marya). There are not too many researches involving men and eating disorders, they are mainly targeted towards women. Nevertheless eating disorders affect both men and women of all ages, and they are usually not easy to treat. While some motivations are our own internal emotions and others being our culture and environment, it is important that one is happy with whom they are. When did being a size 4 become the average size for a woman? Why do people just automatically expect that men cannot suffer from the same emotional issues as women? Men and women are definitely different, but we are not all that different.

References http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/how-your-brain-signals-your-bodys-need-for-food.html http://eatingdisorder.org/eating-disorder-information/underlying-causes/ http://sevencounties.org/poc/view_doc.php?type=doc&id=11752&cn=46 http://healthpsych.psy.vanderbilt.edu/gender.htm