Spring Break '10

Spring Break this year was the best. I had so much fun just hanging out with my friends, and enjoying the warm weather. I loved going out, and laying out in the sun. I didn't stay home much, but when I did, I just stayed outside by the pool, relaxing. I went to Columbia on Friday with my friend Somer, and we went to the zoo! :) Haha. It was really fun, because all we did all day was sit on the River, and tan, while my family was at the zoo. Other than that, I didn't do much other than drive around with people trying to find things to do in this town. Haha.

Access to Treatment

I did a little more research. And found that only 1 in 10 people suffering from an Eating Disorder actually recieve the treatment required to make a full recovery. More than 80% of women leave treatment after only weeks of care. Anorexia is the 3rd most common chronic illness among adolescents. Up to 5% of all female adolescents are anorexic.

So if this is such a serious illness, why is it that treatment is so inefficient? Why are girls still killing themselves over numbers on a scale? If this illness is the third most chronic illness in America, shouldn't treatment have maybe improved?

This is a mental disorder. You can only change a person who wants to be changed, because they are killing themselves by their own will. Therefore, treatment of Anorexic patients is more difficult than just giving them medicine. It requires intensive therapy, and psychiatry and enviornmental change. This may be why treatment for eating disorders is only effective in 40 to 50% of patients.

Get Skinny?

Why is it that today’s society is so pressured to be skinny? I know that I have friends that all they care about is being skinny and looking “pretty”. Girls especially feel like they are never good enough. But I’m just curious why? I feel like maybe I could lose a few pounds too. However, I would never obsess over it or try to starve myself to lose weight. I guess it just bothers me that so many girls will kill themselves to be “perfect”. Because every person's body is different, and your body can't be easily manipulated to change itself without harmful effects. Point blank, if you starve yourself to get thin, your doing more harm to your body than you really realize. And eventually, though it might take years for some, the disorder will kill you. Because there is only so much abuse that a body can take.