Social Media and The Development of Eating Disorders

What is an eating disorder?
The American Psychiatric Association (APA) defines eating disorders as “illnesses in which the people
experience severe disturbances in their eating behaviors and related thoughts and emotions.” Eating
disorders are both a medical condition and a mental health condition. They often occur with other
mental disorders like anxiety disorder, panic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and
substance use disorders.
The most common types of eating disorders are anorexia nervosa, bulimia, and binge-eating disorder.
Anorexia, according to the APA, is characterized by limited food intake, an intense fear of “being fat,”
problems with body self-image, and denial of low body weight. The condition is diagnosed when
patients weigh at least 15% less than the recommended body weight for their height.
Bulimia patients are also obsessed with being overweight, but their actual weight can range from
slightly below average weight to overweight or obese. Instead of not eating like anorexia patients,
bulimia patients will binge on large amounts of food frequently. After binge eating, a person with
bulimia will attempt to purge their bodies of the food through vigorous exercise, using laxatives, or
inducing vomiting to “counteract” their behavior.
Binge eating disorder includes similar thoughts about self-image and binge behaviors with large
amounts of food, but without the attempts to get rid of the food through purging.
Other less common eating or food-related disorders include avoidant restrictive food intake disorder, or
ARFID (dramatic weight loss accompanied by rapidly worsening picky eating), PICA (persistently eating
non-food substances), rumination disorder (repeated regurgitation of food).
The implications of an eating disorder to a person’s physical health can be tremendous, and the most
severe cases may result in death. Eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of any mental illness.
Sometimes, though, it’s difficult for family and friends to detect the symptoms of an eating disorder in a
loved one because their eating or purging behaviors usually take place in private, and the emotional and
mental symptoms happen gradually. However, at least 30 million people in the United States are
currently suffering from an eating disorder. And even though most people think eating disorders impact
only young women or people in their teen years, this condition is shared among all ages and genders.
Social Media and the Development of Eating Disorders
The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) calls eating disorders a “very complex” condition, citing
experts’ beliefs that food-related disorders like anorexia nervosa, bulimia, and binge-eating disorder
(BED) are caused by “people attempting to cope with overwhelming feelings and painful emotions by
controlling food.” There is no exact cause of eating disorders. They may be spurred by a multitude of
factors, including genetics, cultural pressures, emotional health, and peer pressure. Media, social media,
and the people within someone’s in-person and online social networks can play a significant role in
three of those four circumstances.
Cultural pressures: Image-driven social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Tik Tok, and
Snapchat subject followers to a virtually endless stream of photos, videos, and messaging demonstrating
supposed (yet often unrealistic) ideals of beauty, body shape, weight, diet, and weight loss. In most
cases, people or companies who post this content associate these outcomes with happiness, popularity,
or success.
Emotional health: Emotional and mental health problems like impulsive behavior or major depression,
or personality tendencies like perfectionism, self-doubt, or low self-esteem can be underlying causes of
food-related disorders. For someone with a real issue, posts about dieting, workouts, or unrealistic body
size on social media can easily trigger disordered eating behaviors like excessive exercise or binge eating.
Peer pressure: The opinions of friends and family members can have a significant impact on a person’s
thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. These voices can be an even more powerful force during the
formative years of adolescence and early adulthood. Cyberbullying is an ugly and unfortunate offshoot
of social media sites. This kind of bullying is often directed at a person’s appearance. According to
the National Eating Disorders Association, as many as 65% of people with food-related disorders in the
United States say bullying contributed to their condition.
Like the 2004 study of the effect of media on eating and food-related disorders, several recent research
efforts have confirmed the same correlation with social media content. In 2011, the University of Haifa’s
study of 248 girls aged 12 to 19 found that the “more time adolescent girls spend in front of Facebook,
the more their chances of developing a negative body image and various eating disorders, such as
anorexia, bulimia, and exaggerated dieting.”
A 2007 study published by the National Institutes of Health included 1765 participants aged 19 to 32
years and measured eating concerns and the use of social media sites (both volume and frequency).
“Eating concerns” were defined as body dissatisfaction, negative or altered body image, and disordered
eating in addition to diagnosed eating or feeding disorders. The results indicated a “strong and
consistent association between social media use and eating concerns.”
Use Social Media Positively
Social media can be detrimental, but it also gives us a place to be a voice of change and to advocate. We
can transform social media from a triggering, toxic space to that of encouragement, learning, and
support. Online campaigns and backlashes against sexism and body shaming are becoming more
common. Social media can promote a sense of community to those suffering from an eating disorder by
simply posting an inspirational message related to body image, a recovery-oriented blog, or an article
related to eating disorder education.
Things are changing and we are beginning to see people take the step to help change the conversations
on social media. One hashtag that is making the rounds is #NEDAselfie. Individuals are posting unfiltered
selfies with a caption about what makes them feel confident in their own skin. Another hashtag that is
redefining how women see themselves and their bodies is #WomenEatingFood. This brainchild of a
registered dietitian and a body coach came about to help start the conversation around women eating
real food without it being labeled as “good” food or “bad food”. Women can eat all sorts of food
without criticism or remarks about their bodies.
When it comes to social media it is important to be careful about what we read and see and allow our
mind to take in. It is easy to say “feel good about your body,” but for many it’s not so easy to do when
social media paints an unrealistic picture. It is important to remember that regardless what a post may
be telling you, you are worthy and take the time to appreciate all that you are.
https://nyctherapy.com/therapists-nyc-blog/does-social-media-drive-eating-disorders/
https://www.magnolia-creek.com/eating-disorder-recovery-blog/social-media-and-eating-disorders/

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What is an eating disorder?

Social Media and the Development of Eating Disorders

Use Social Media Positively

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