Morgan Thompson CBI

Eating Disorders

http://www.ulifeline.org/articles/400-eating-disorders-why-do-they-happen

"Eating disorders are rarely about food or wanting to be thin. Instead sufferers use food and unhealthy behaviors like dieting, starving, bingeing and purging to cope with unpleasant and overwhelming emotions and stressful situations."

In our class discussion we talked about how Akiko has an eating disorder. We know that she has a bad relationship with John in the sense that he is controlling and rude to her. Akiko feels the need to live up to the perfect My American Wife! standards and that is where her eating disorder come in.


A direct quote I picked out explaining the act, On page 37 it says, "After dinner, when the washing was done, she would go to the bathroom, stand in front of the mirror, and stare at her reflections. Then, after only a moment, she'd start to feel the meat. It began in her stomach, like an animal alive, and would climb its way buck up her gullet, until it burst from the back of her throat."

On page 38 it says, "But she knew always to flush while she was vomiting so John wouldn't hear. She also knew that she felt a small flutter in her stomach, which she identified as success, every night when it was over."

From the psychological view on this, the quote actually helps show that through this eating disorder, she actually believes that it helps her unwind, and feel less stressed out.

This connects with many people today. Eating disorders are becoming more and more common because they feel the need to be in control of something, or the need to reach society's standards of being beautifully thin.