Explain the causes of eating disorders, and discuss why causality is a complex puzzle.
What will be an ideal response?
A good answer would include the following key points:
- Eating disorders, such as anorexia nervosa and bulimia, have multiple, interacting causes.
- Dieting often precedes the onset of an eating disorder, and the urge to diet itself can be spurred by social standards of beauty, fitness, or desirability.
- A need for control or success may play a psychological role in eating disorders.
- Early maturation, which is biological in nature, contributes to the onset of disorders. Other biological explanations stem from evidence from twin studies and evidence from hormones.
- Psychological disorders, such as depression, can play a role, but even parental demands for perfection offer a psychological component as well.
- Social and cultural norms can't be denied; messages from media, advertising, and so on, have an impact.
- Eating disorders therefore represent a complex blend of multifaceted causes, each of which is likely to interact with others. Like any disorder, identifying causality is an important step toward identifying treatment, which may explain why treatment of eating disorders is also a multifaceted affair.
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