20.10.14 Psychology of the Media

After exploring some of the ways in which the media influences eating disorders I decided to research into this further, and so I read Psychology of the Media by David Giles.

Since reading this I have decided that it is probably unnecessary to the title of my project to include all of the information I found within it. However it truly intrigued me and made me think about the media and the ways in it can and does influence eating disorders.

What has further interested me in the subject is the campaign that Sophia Parvizik-Wayne and Amber Van Dam have started in regards to mental health awareness, which was triggered by Sophia's eating disorder.

14.10.14 The Media

In the books I have read in conjunction to my EPQ they have all touched on the subject of the media being a large influence. Having grown up within the time period that technology has truly thrived and excelled I am fascinated by the effect this has had on us mentally, more specifically with our eating habits. There is now a whole community of people encouraging eating disorders, more typically known as the 'pro-ana' and 'pro-mia' community, examples of which can be seen below:

Thin Intentions Forever

The ProAna Lifestyle Forever

Getting Thin Soon

Miss Ana Mia

Furthering on from this are the hashtags used on Instagram, Pinterest and Twitter to link all of these types of posts together:

08.10.14 The Psychology of Eating: From Healthy to Disordered Behaviour

I have now read The Psychology of Eating: From Healthy to Disordered Behaviour by Jane Ogden, and it has been another fascinating read, it has taught me about the different studies that have been conducted in the field, as well as adding to what I learnt from Suzanne Abraham's book. This book has raised some interesting points factors that affect eating disorders that I previously would not have thought of e.g. culture and social status. 

05.10.14 Thinking About Primary Research

As my want to do my EPQ on the subject of eating disorders has stemmed from my own family's struggles with the subject I feel as though part of my primary research should be interviewing some of their experiences. On one side of the spectrum I will have my grandmother, who has struggled with her weight and is currently on the obesity side of the spectrum. On the other side is my mother who has battled with anorexia when she was younger, but has overcome it. As I am related to them I would find someone else to conduct the interview but with questions I have already prepared to attempt to eliminate researcher bias. I will record their voices only to help with annonimity and their real names will not be used. On top of this I want to conduct a questionnaire on the subject to gain a wider view of people's feelings towards eating disorders.