Anorexia Nervosa In The Film To The Bone

Mental disorders are often stereotyped and poorly portrayed throughout novels, films, and social media. Due to this people do not understand the hardships others go through when suffering from mental health problems. Eating disorders take place in the lives of ten to fifteen percent of Americans (Mirasol); the other 85 percent of people do not always realize how difficult these disorders can be. However, recently in June of 2017 a film was released in hopes to reveal to people the severity of the eating disorder anorexia nervosa. Anorexia nervosa is a mental disorder and disease that is not always so treatable, but Marti Noxon shows us in her film, To the Bone, the reality of this sickness and that through faith, friends, and family anything
There are seven patients in the movie, six being women, which makes the division, 85 percent female and 15 percent male; therefore, Noxon’s film reflects the statistics. Lindsay McDowell plays Kendra, a young black woman diagnosed with binge eating disorder, and makes multiple appearances throughout the film proving Freeman wrong as she claims all the patients, “are young, attractive, middle-class white
This disease is the fear of gaining weight, people with anorexia look at themselves and see fat when in reality they are unhealthily skinny. Symptoms of anorexia found in the vast majority of those diagnosed include: increased lanugo hair (fine body hair), acrocyanosis (decrease in the amount of oxygen delivered to the extremities), decreased core body temperature, heart rate below 60 BPM, amenorrhea, arrhythmias, ECH abnormalities, congestive heart failure, constipation, crampy abdominal pain, acute pancreatic, peripheral edema, and anemia (Mirasol). Ellen reveals these symptoms and more to us throughout the film; “You like this? The furry?... Lanugo. Your body's trying to keep you warm by making more hair. But you know that, right?” this is a conversation between Dr. Beckham (Keanu Reeves) and Ellen discussing the hair that is growing long and thick all along her body to keep her warm, one of the effects of the poor nutrition. Throughout the entire film, we see the physical effects from anorexia on Ellen, the small, frail body, bruises, repeated fainting, and much more, there are many emotional and mental effects anorexia can have as well that we see Ellen