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Document19 5
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Document19 5
Autumn Chapman
Professor Cassel
ENG. 1201
27 October 2021
I felt dread and anxiety wash over me. I continued to look at what I thought was an ugly
sight. I could not believe my eyes as I continued to look at my worst nightmare. I felt tears
coming down my eyes and sweat covering my skin. The only thing was that the nightmare I was
seeing was myself in my bedroom mirror. As a teenager, I struggled with anorexia nervosa. I
would look at myself in the mirror every day, criticizing my weight and hating myself. I would
freak out if I had only one piece of junk food, didn’t get enough exercise, or even ate differently
than what I usually eat. I ended up getting down to around 125 pounds. This problem didn’t start
until the beginning of the pandemic of 2020. By not being able to interact with people and only
ended up getting over it, but some people aren’t as lucky. Though anorexia was already a
problem, anorexia has significantly increased during the pandemic through isolation, changes in
eating habits and living situations, and the increased use of social media.
Before Covid-19 hit, anorexia was already a problem. Anorexia, which is when an
individual sees themselves as overweight and tries to lose weight in an unhealthy way,
(GoodTherapy) became more concerning around 2016 to 2020 (Scott). Before the pandemic,
over 30 million people had struggled with an eating disorder (GoodTherapy). Anyone, no matter
the gender, race, or even age, can get anorexia (Scott). People who end up living with anorexia
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can be at risk of brain damage, organ failure, and even infertility. They can also develop
osteoporosis, anemia, brittle hair, dry skin, brittle nails, constipation, lower blood pressure, and
even a weaker pulse. About 10% of individuals end up dying from this illness(GoodTherapy).
Since there is more awareness, there have been more cases that have been reported (Scott).
Based on statistics, about 19% of cases are people with anorexia. Many of those cases are
individuals who also suffer from depression or other mental illnesses (Scott). All this can build
There are many reasons why anorexia would have increased during the lockdown.
Individuals are put in a new situation, whether if they are living with their parents or even living
alone. Though it may not affect most people, some people may go about it in a different way. By
not being able to go out and do normal activities, people could end up feeling bored, or even
anxious. Some Reddit users from the article, “Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Disordered
Eating Behavior: Qualitative Analysis of Social Media”, talk about how their eating disorders are
affected by some lifestyle changes that were made during the pandemic. Ranging from changes
in exercise behavior and environment, many individuals suffered from anorexia, bulimia, and
even binge-eating disorder because of it. More than 1/3 of the Reddit users mentioned how not
being able to attend work, school, or even social gatherings led to them being bored all the time
(Nutley et al). Others have also said that they had to relocate because of college closing (Nutley
et al). Living with people that someone doesn’t usually live with, such as a parent, boyfriend, or
girlfriend, or even a grandparent, can change someone’s eating habits. Some parents may not
take the disorder seriously and even cause anxiety. An individual even mentioned that their
parents would make fun of their weight which caused the person to be more anxious ( Nutley et
al). The changes in the environment can lead to anorexia being formed.
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Changes in eating habits can also lead to anorexia. Many individuals start the pandemic
with the desire to lose weight. Since there wasn’t anything else to do, people would end up
wanting to use the time to become healthier. It soon becomes an unhealthy habit where the
person starts counting the calories they eat or even starts cutting out carbs. The article “Eating
Disorders on the Rise After Our Pandemic Year,” mentions how many teens would have access
to food throughout the pandemic. They would eat and gain weight out of being bored. They
would soon become desperate to lose the weight they have gained by restricting most foods.
(Katella). It usually starts as someone just wanting to lose weight. Throughout time, it becomes
an addiction to where she or he cannot stop. They continue eating less to where it becomes
critical for them to start eating again. Even bullying could cause a change in eating habits. When
someone online says that the person is fat, or a pig, they would end up changing how they eat to
look how society wants them to (Katella). By changing eating habits, it can lead to bad outcomes
if not monitored.
During the pandemic, isolation has also led to anorexia. By being alone and having no
one to talk to, the individual is left with their thoughts (Scott). With technology and stress
running most people’s lives, it’s easy to start pushing worries on one thought. People are
building up these negative thoughts with no one else to talk to. This could cause their health to
get even worse. By being alone, it causes people to live with their own issues and think about
their flaws. Since it’s crucial for kids to socialize and do peer activities, it could start taking a toll
on them (Scott). Isolation has also caused people to not have access to services or therapies that
could help (Scott). The pandemic has caused many hospitals to be preoccupied with covid cases
where they don’t have time for people who are suffering from eating disorders. This leaves the
person to continue getting worse (Scott). The pandemic hasn’t just taken people away from their
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lives but also normal activities also. By the gyms, schools, and even some churches being closed,
it can cause the person to feel more depressed, alone, and anxious than they did before the
pandemic (Scott).
Throughout the pandemic, isolation hasn’t just affected women but men as well. There
were about 15% of cases that dealt with men during the pandemic (GoodTherapy). There has
been a 30% to 40% increase in cases since the pandemic has started for both males and females
(GoodTherapy). Socializing has been a huge part of most males’ lives and taking that away can
lead to feeling alone or even bored. About 30% of the cases have been teenage girls.
(GoodTherapy). Since women search others for support, being separated would cause them to
feel unwanted. If they make a mistake in their eating habits, they won’t be able to tell their loved
ones. No one would know if they were well or not. Though there is technology, real-life
interaction has been important for children and even teenagers (Scott).
Social media has also had a major impact on anorexia. Ever since the pandemic started,
more people have started using Instagram, Facebook, and even Tik Tok. People are staying
connected through commenting and even texting. People would be seeing advertisements of
what is considered the “Perfect girl” and would end up starting to compare themselves to them.
Though most of these models have been photoshopped to look one way, many young girls aren’t
Fig. 1. Picture shows an unedited vs edited version of a female model. It shows how weight can
It ends up lowering their self-esteem and causing them to doubt themselves (Scott). On Tik-Tok
there have been videos that show how to lose weight and show “healthy” eating habits. When
people at risk of anorexia end up watching it, they would start taking it to the next level. They
continue to follow it without moderation which ends up leading to an eating disorder or other
illnesses. They see people who are abnormally thin thinking it’s normal to be that way. It also is
normalized on television. Usually, the female characters are thin and end up having some sort of
boyfriend. When girls watch this, they think they must be thin and if they aren’t with someone,
The stereotype of thin, young, and clear-skinned women has caused women to start
feeling more conscious about themselves, and thinking they aren’t enough (Katella). A lot of
people end up getting misdiagnosed because of this view from the media. If someone is thin,
they are automatically assumed to have anorexia (Katella). It can go the other way around too. If
someone is overweight, they usually aren’t known to be anorexic. If someone sees someone who
is obese, they either think they are binge-eaters or even could be a result of genetics. People
automatically think that anorexia correlates with being underweight. The use of social media has
caused stereotypes that could lead to misdiagnosis and even mistreatment. Glorifying being
skinny, or even overweight can cause people to think what they’re doing is okay. People could
follow the mindset that, “I’m not as skinny as that person so I’m fine,” or “I’m not as overweight
as that person so I am okay.” By following that mindset, people could continue getting sicker. It
Anorexia has impacted and caused frustration in many people’s lives. It could cause
people to not do well in sports, or even do badly in school (Amy). Throughout the pandemic,
many people have been lacking sleep and even exercising more often (Nutley et al). Though
exercise can be good when done in moderation, it could also become unhealthy when done
excessively. According to a Reddit user, he or she has gone from regular exercise to walking four
hours a day (Nutley et al). It could get to the point where people can’t stop even though they
want to. Food shortages have also been a problem. By grocery stores closing many people don’t
have access to food (Nutley et al). This can cause people to not eat as much.
Toxic relationships have caused an impact in the rise of anorexia also. By quarantine
causing many people to be stuck in their house, people could end up being stuck living with their
boyfriend, girlfriend, parents, or even siblings (Nutley et al). Many people have parents they
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don’t have a good relationship with, or even a toxic boyfriend or girlfriend. Some parents would
take the eating disorder as a joke and act like they are making it up (Nutley et al). Other times,
they could end up fat-shaming, which causes the person to feel more conscious about
themselves. People could also live with too timid people also. Someone could be too worried to
confront someone because they are worried about what the person would think (Nutley et al).
This can make the person continue doing their unhealthy habits.
Many people end up not realizing they have anorexia or may even avoid it (Katella). By
not realizing that they have an eating disorder they won’t end up getting the help they need. By
avoiding treatment, they could end up getting complications such as organ failure (Katella). In
some cases, individuals would vomit what they eat or take some sort of drug to lose weight. If
this ends up going untreated this could lead to acid reflux, chronic inflammation, and even some
esophagus or more common symptoms such as voice change (Katella). These symptoms can lead
to Dysphagia, which is a tough time swallowing (Katella). Many people can’t be diagnosed or
may not even have access to treatment. Like mentioned, this can lead to illness getting worse and
may even lead to death. Without offering support or the person acknowledging that they have an
Though anorexia is a dangerous eating disorder, there are ways of curing it. By having
parental support, and even effective treatment available, anorexia could end up being cured.
Since many adults think that weight loss is an answer for their kid’s life, many people could
change their mindset and think about a better alternative (Katella). Having the right doctors and
dietitians to help with the problem could lead to a healthier lifestyle (Mayo Clinic). Some
treatments for anorexia could be therapy sessions, supplements for lack of nutrition, and even
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supplements to increase appetite (Mayo Clinic). When people find ways to cope with it and keep
to the treatments, they could end up not having anorexia anymore. When people find others to
talk to, stop weighing every day, and even find ways to distract themselves, it can help the
person become healthier. (Mayo Clinic). The pandemic has caused a lot of hospitals and clinics
to be overfilled or closed, which has stopped people from getting help. This has caused cases to
rise.
There are mindsets that can cause or get rid of anorexia also. Having the mindset that
someone must be perfect or look like what women are shown on TV, could lead to the person
building anorexic habits (Katella). Comparing weight to other people can also cause people to be
more conscious about themselves. When someone constantly wants to look like the girl, or guy
that sits next to them in class, it could cause them to be in competition with themselves (Katella).
On the other hand, if a healthy mindset is kept such as knowing that not every person is going to
be extremely thin, or that each body type is different, it could lead to some healthy results
(Katella). It is okay to lose weight to become fit, but when it goes to the point where a person
wants to become thin, that's when it becomes a problem. The pandemic has caused lots of these
Though many people think that the pandemic has caused anorexia to rise in the past
years, some people may not think the same way. Some individuals may think that the pandemic
hasn’t directly led to the increase of anorexia cases. The article, “Comparing eating behaviors,
and symptoms of depression and anxiety between Spain and Greece during the COVID-19
outbreak: Cross-sectional analysis of two different confinement strategies,” talks about how
anorexia is more severe in a country that has fewer restrictions (Papandreou et al). Research is
done on both countries, Spain, and Greece, and sees how different eating disorder severity is
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among them (Papandreou et al). Since the results led to more restrictions causing more anxiety
while fewer restrictions caused more eating disorders, people would conclude that it isn’t the
restrictions causing the rise (Papandreo et al). Greece, which has less severe restrictions, has
greater numbers than Spain when correlating with anorexia (Papandreo et al).
Fewer restrictions could be more affective on anorexia because they have more exercise
opportunities that can lead to more weight loss. The gyms and parks would be opened, which
would create more ways for people to exercise if they didn’t have good options at home.
Sometimes more restrictions could cause anxiety but because there aren’t a lot of exercise
activities around where most people live it can cause their eating disorder to not get wors e.
Though this may be true in some cases, studies have shown that the pandemic, and the
restrictions, had a significant impact on the increased cases. Many researchers found that
quarantine and clinics like telehealth, have caused many disorders to get worse (Mental Health
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Weekly Digest). Since telehealth involves talking through technology and not face-to-face
interaction, the person may not feel connected. More restrictions, such as isolation have shown to
have an impact on anorexia cases (Mental Health Weekly Digest). Restrictions that cause
activities, and even churches, to be closed have caused individuals to feel more isolated and only
with themselves (Nutley et al). Since activities like church and school are crucial to some
people’s social lives, taking that away has caused people to not be able to interact with friends or
family that could have been able to help them in normal times (Nutley et al). More restrictions
placed on a person can lead to the person losing interaction with their peers, necessary help, and
emotional support.
People may think that there aren’t that many cases compared to before. Since anorexia
has already been around, people may think that the case numbers haven’t changed. Many people
may think certain people aren’t able to get anorexia, including males (GoodTherapy). Since it
isn’t as common for men to get anorexia, people may think the case numbers aren’t accurate.
They may also think many people are faking the eating disorder for attention. It’s common for
many people to be accused of being an attention-seeker because they are saying they have a
disorder. Because of an assumption of someone’s weight, they assume they are making the
eating disorder up (GoodTherapy). Eating disorders could be falsified in some cases to where
they may think they have it because they are feeling a certain way. They could mistake it for
something else. They could get treated by parents in a different way to where they think they
have a disorder, or even have one but isn't taken seriously (Nutley et al). Based on some
research, some cases could be forced because of how parents treat them. By people calling them
fat or too skinny they could automatically think they have an eating disorder (Nutley et al).
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Though there may have been these types of cases before, many cases that have occurred
are reliable. Many people may not have access to a hospital to diagnose their eating disorder
(GoodTherapy). Cases are known to have risen about 30% in certain clinics (GoodTherapy).
This is because many people are starting to report it more and realize that more people are
starting to get the eating disorder. Because of some toxic relationships, there could be more cases
that aren’t reported (Nutley et al). Many people are made to believe they don’t have a disorder.
Their parents may not listen to them, or their boyfriend or girlfriend may manipulate them in
certain ways (Nutley et al). In most cases, eating disorders need to be taken seriously. If people
have the mindset that people are just making their disorder up because they want attention, no
one will want to report their disorder. People who say they have an eating disorder should be
taken seriously and be listened to, not the other way around.
Anorexia has infected many lives, including mine. I couldn’t go a day without thinking
about my weight or feeling sorry for myself. The number of days I would have spent in front of
my mirror is too many to count. I couldn’t see myself as beautiful. It came to the point where it
wasn’t just harming me but the people around me. Without interaction with friends, activities,
and even school to get my mind off myself, I couldn’t overcome it in the beginning. In the end, I
was able to overcome it naturally, without therapy or even hospitals. Though many people aren’t
as lucky as me, there is always hope around every corner. Like myself, many cases have been
occurring during the pandemic. The pandemic has been a huge contributing factor in many
people’s lives, including mine. Even though anorexia was a problem before, the pandemic has
significantly increased the number of cases through isolation, eating habits, and living situations,
Works Cited
"Amy's Story-Anorexia." Medicine, Health, and Bioethics: Essential Primary Sources, edited by
K. Lee Lerner and Brenda Wilmoth Lerner, Gale, 2006, pp. 159-163. Gale In Context:
Opposing Viewpoints,
link.gale.com/apps/doc/CX3456500067/OVIC?u=dayt30401&sid=bookmark-
Katella, Kathy. “Eating Disorders on the Rise After Our Pandemic Year.” YaleMedicine. 15 June.
2021
Nutley, Sara K, Alyssa M. Falise, Rebecca Henderson, Vasiliki Apostolou, Carol A. Mathews,
Behavior: Qualitative Analysis of Social Media Posts.” JMIR Mental Health, JMIR
2021
Papandreou, Christopher, Victoria Arija, Eleni Aretouli, Konstantinos K.Tsilidis, and Mònica
Bulliò. “Comparing eating behaviours, and symptoms of depression and anxiety between
Spain and Greece during COVID-19 outbreak: Cross-sectional analysis of two different
confinement strategies.” European Eating Disorders Review, vol. 28, no.6, Aug. 2020,
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"Research Data from Swansea University Update Understanding of COVID-19 (Narratives From
Individuals With Anorexia Nervosa)." Mental Health Weekly Digest, 1 Nov. 2021, p.
link.gale.com/apps/doc/A680793582/OVIC?u=dayt30401&sid=bookmark-
Scott, Anna. “WHAT’S BEHIND THE RISE: Anorexia ARFID Binge eating Bulimia Other
com.sinclair.ohionet.org/eds/detail/detail?vid=18&sid=9cdfd668-2766-418f-a695-
8fb2dc44dc2b%40sessionmgr102&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmU%3d#db=ccm&A
N=151760801
“The Reality of Celebrity Photoshop: Before and After.” MessyNessy, 12 October 2010,
https://www.messynessychic.com/2010/10/12/the-reality-of-celebrity-photoshop-before-
1 Nov. 2021
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