The meanness of the media is not the only monster (by Nina)
In Carmela's story http://www.awildride.net/index1l.htm, she says that the media is not the ultimate culprit and cause of eating disorders. An eating disorder is considered a mental illness. It takes more than skinny models, actresses and thin peers to develop one.
In most cases, I think that eating disorders are complicated and both very well understood and very mysterious. Does brain chemistry, genes, abandonment issues, sexual abuse, temperament, or excessive external and internal pressure cause an eating problem? Each person is different and has their collection of factors to untangle, understand, treat, and recover from. Check out the Newsweek interview with Dr. Cynthia Bulik, director of the eating-disorders program at the University of North Carolina, where she shares her thoughts on many related issues:
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/15730915/site/newsweek/.
Dr.Bulik states, at the end of her interview, that media images are a significant trigger, but says that eating disorders have been around for centuries!
