We have seen a fad transform itself from a haunting shadow for a select few to, to the curse of many. Mainstream society has conformed to the notion that there are people plagued with insecurities that lead them to living hazardous lives. Being part of the twenty first century, one cannot consent to being part of a society that ignores the anguish of others.
For years eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia have taken a more complacent role in the mind of the every day person. As the media portrays the similar problems that “glamorous” celebrities are undergoing with such pettiness, the more common and wide spread this is all becoming. But the issue now is not simply that not enough people are expressing their dissent to these problems, but that not everyone is attempting to educate themselves on the subject. There is much that is not being done.
Drunkorexia, which is not yet an official medical term, has started to further
trouble those with addiction and eating disorders. Those suffering of Drunkorexia are binge drinkers who starve themselves all day to make up for the alcohol they take in. Those who binge on alcohol and food and proceed to purge, also fall under this group.
Anorexics tend to abstain from consuming alcohol due to the calorie count. Some, however drink to calm themselves before a meal or after. For others alcohol, as well as drugs, is their only form of nourishment. This of course has many obvious side effects that should by now be transparent to all.
The culprits are an unhealthy obsession with wanting to be skinny, and the common scandals of celebrities checking into rehab. This has made the naïve youth forsake their upbringing and embrace the changing hedonistic times. So it is no surprise that binge drinking and losing weight, two norms of today’ society, have been mixed together. Much of these addictions and disorders consist of emotional pain possibly rooting back to childhood. These people wish to quell any lingering feelings and thus they participate in things that will numb them emotionally. In their attempt to build a wall around their problems, they solely succeed in developing a crutch that can kill them once it falls out from underneath them.
Manorexia, the male version of the notorious anorexia, and Disbulmia, those who avoid taking insulin for fear of weight gain, both deprive a sick human being of a quality of life worth praising. As more people seek help for these problems they may receive mixed messages. While substance abuse is hard to give up in of itself, it can be discarded. When food becomes the terrorizing drug it is important to remember that it cannot be shoved away in the closet; it is very much present in our every day lives and essential for our biological survival.
The survival of generations of people depend on our ability to act and recognize the agonizing dilemma at hand; how to eradicate that which is destroying countless lives? We should not be reticent to speak on this issue, but rather delve into the causes of this epidemic. It is safe to say that the weed must be pulled out whole, so that the garden can truly blossom to its fullest extent.
