UNAIR NEWS – Adolescence is the period of transition when someone has developed their identity, including perceiving the most ideal physical feature. Nowadays, the massive growth of technology sets media as the source of information on physical appearance is perceived ideal by the public.
The media often perceives the ideal physical appearance as thin, tall, and slim body. It strongly influences teenagers to internalize the media’s portrayal of the ideal physique. In many cases, to get the ideal body shape, teenagers actually end up suffering from eating disorders.
“In the eating disorder case, there is a continuous deviance in eating behavior in a certain span of time. The deviance may form in the consumption pattern and food absorption,” Tiara Diah Sosialita MPsi Psikolog stated in the “Eating Disorder: Beware of eating disorder in teens” Webinar on Saturday, May 5, 2022.
She also explained that an eating disorder is characterized by extreme eating behavior and emotional disturbance. Patients with eating disorders may be overeating or eating too little.
“They obsessed with weight and body shape alongside negative emotions,” she said.
In the webinar held by UNAIR Faculty of Psychology, Tiara stated that eating disorders would not affect the patient physically and psychologically. There are three types of eating disorders in teenagers: anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge-eating (compulsive overeating).
- Anorexia Nervosa
People with anorexia nervosa will avoid and limit their portions excessively. While their bodies tend to show weight loss, they still believe that they are fat.
“This causes people with anorexia nervosa conducted a lot of effort to lose their weight. They are worried and uncomfortable with their physical appearances to the extent of avoiding the social interactions and activities,” she said.
- Bulimia Nervosa
In the bulimia nervosa case, the patient binge eats to the point of nausea and then vomits. “They will binge-eat every kind of food, it’s even hard for them to stop eating. On the other hand, they fear gaining weight. Usually, there will be a ‘silent compensation’ for that,” Tiara said.
Vomiting, laxative misuse, and compulsive exercise are ways to compensate for excessive eating. Unlike anorexia nervosa, people with bulimia nervosa are able to maintain their ideal weight.
- Binge-Eating (Compulsive Overeating)
Binge-eating disorder is when someone feels compelled to overeat. It is characterized by uncontrollable eat nonstop,” the UNAIR Department of Psychology lecturer stated.
Negative emotions like embarrassment and guilt usually follow those behaviors. Usually, teenagers feel unable to control their appetite and if someone forbids them, they will eat quietly even when they are not hungry.
“Usually, they let out the negative emotions through eating. People with compulsive overeating disorder tend to be overweight, though some have normal weight. They do not compensate for losing the weight,” said Tiara.
Author: Agnes Ikandani
Editor: Nuri Hermawan
