Caracas, 20 de marzo de 2016

Universidad Central de Venezuela

Facultad de Humanidades y Educacin
Escuela de Idiomas Modernos
Ingls III Writing
Victoria Jansen

Cause and Effect Essay: Bulimia Nervosa

Throughout the last decades society has faced a variety of medical and psychological
conditions called eating disorders. They are related to certain eating behaviors and an obsession
with weight. One of the most common eating disorders is bulimia nervosa. Individuals with this
condition tend to live in a cycle of binge eating, or eating excessively, and a subsequent process of
purging led by guilt. They carry out this purging process by vomiting, using laxatives or diuretics,
exercising to excess or fasting, all of which are unhealthy practices when taken to extremes. Most
cases of this disorder have been identified in girls and young women. Both biological and social
factors have shown to be influential in the development of bulimia nervosa.

Scientifical studies have been made with the goal of finding genetic of biological factors
that contribute to the development of bulimia nervosa. It has been found that the disease is highly
associated with irregular levels of some hormones, especially serotonin, an important
neurotransmitter. Sex hormones have also shown to be an important factor that influences
appetite in women. Conditions like hyperandrogenism and polycystic ovary syndrome are
characterized by irregular appetite, which is also present in bulimic patients. Moreover, it has also
been found that the activity of dieting affects hormones in the brain and provokes bulimic
urgencies in the person.

However it can be asserted that the biggest cause of bulimia lies in the social factors.
Social media has the tendency to overstress certain beauty standards, which can profoundly affect
the self-esteem of young men and women. This low self-esteem causes the person to have a
negative body image and to seek extreme methods for weight control. When the necessary
psychological conditions are present, these methods evolve into bulimia. Furthermore, the
persons environment also plays an important role: on one hand, the social circles by which the
person is surrounded can have a big effect when peer pressure and a circle of rejection are
present. On the other hand, any kind of stressful events in the life of these people with low self-
esteem can trigger bulimic tendencies. They cope with the overwhelming feeling provoked by such
events with binge-eating, and they feel guilty afterwards. It becomes a mixture of emotional and
psychological traits which leads to bulimia.

This sort of condition responds to serious factors, which are commonly unknown by the
masses. Being ignorant about the causes of bulimia or eating disorders in general allows society to
be judgmental about people affected by it. It is important to know the biological and social roots
of such condition, both to understand it better and to help those who suffer from it. Information is
also helpful, for it allows each one of us to identity certain negative conditions in the life of a
person, and prevent them from having a more serious effect on the individual. In other words,
having information makes us capable of providing help and support to our loved ones, just in time
for keeping them from falling into these unhealthy practices.