Eating Disorders in America: Out of Control. Why?

I'm an avid watcher of Dr. Phil and have seen many episodes, but this particular episode as always stuck out in my mind. This clip is of a woman named Amy, who is 28 years old and has been diagnosed with bulimia as well as anorexia. When I first saw this episode I was actually distrubed and could not believe what I was seeing. Out of the many episodes that I've seen on tv that are about eating disorders, this is definitely the most memorable. During this show Amy weighed in at only 60 pounds which seemed impossible to me. This is less than half of what a 20 to 30 year old woman should be weighing, if they were healthy. Anorexia and bulimia have been diagnosed as psychological disorders, but I dont think that is the only factor playing into these woman's unrealistic ideas of how much they should weigh. It's obvious that the media plays a huge role in how a woman feels her body should look, even for those who don't have an eating disorder. I don't think that the people who create these ideas in the media realize the pressure and the outcome of these pressures.Not to say that that the media is the whole cause for this case, but I believe it is a contributor. It seems that one factor in why these woman do what they do is for fear of what other people may think. In the clip you can hear Amy say "I'm scared that Dr. Phil is going to think I'm fat." The fact that a woman that only weighs 60 pounds is worrying about someone thinking that she is fat is crazy to me, but I do realize it is part of the disease. This is definitely an extreme effect of what body issues can do to a person, but it obviously is a real one and although this video may be something that most people don't want to see, I'm glad that Dr. Phil put it out there for people to realize that this is a problem in America. Anyone who watches this video is bound to feel some sympathy and maybe this will make people realize why it does matter what images are put out there for young people to see. Statistics show that an eating disorder starts during the young teenage years, right when most girls are running to get the new "Teen Vogue". Therefore I think being more cautious of the images that we portray as "beautiful" could boost self esteem, and possibly prevent even one person from developing an eating disorder.