Women responding to the thin, sexy characters depicted in the show “Desperate Housewives" is having a growing impact on women in their thirties and forties. More women of this age are being treated for eating disorders and many are blaming the TV show.
Women are saying they feel greater pressure to be thinner as they get older, to look youthful regardless of age, and to take whatever steps are needed to achieve all of this. Aging gracefully has fallen out of fashion.
Most of us know people who have weight and diet challenges. We have friends who are constantly on a diet, friends who never seem to eat, and friends who take pills – lots of pills. That doesn’t mean, of course, these friends have an eating disorder, but their patterns of behavior could easily lead to one.
Researchers are now finding that younger women and middle aged women share many of the same triggers that lead to eating disorders such as low self esteem and high anxiety. Menopause, however, increases the middle-aged woman’s negative perception of her body and the possibility of succumbing to compulsive eating or dieting.
It appears that the circumstances and triggers for anorexia are very personal and varied regardless of age, Some find social pressures for appearance to be their cause for compulsive behavior. Others report that their appearance and their perceptions about their ability to perform at work are tightly linked. The fact that some women might have spent decades without treatment also speaks to the lack of resources and understanding.
To understand anorexia, we need to examine the context of a particular person’s disorder and make sure there are resources available to him or him. We also need to pay more attention to the messages we send our children, personally and through the media. If we know how these patterns of low self esteem and negative appearance develop, maybe we can figure out how to stop them.
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To your successful lifestyle,
Ruthan
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