Quote - I'm a little surprised at your therapist colleague if she is the one who coined the term "society-based disorder." In my studies I never heard of one. I haven't seen one listed in the DSM4 - the manual used by Psychologists/therapists as the basis for diagnosis.

Nope Bob that was my fault it should have read social phobias.  She treats eating disorders and social phobias. There is so much I want to fit into my posts but I don't want them to be books either...LOL!  From a personal stand point I don’t always agree with my colleague also I am not the type of individual who has a copy of the DMS4 laying around his library you’ll more likely find a SIG-sauer P226 and a few odd and end books, journals and pamphlets of interest. As a matter of fact I don’t always buy into “society” made me do it. I was just interjecting some material I have read from my research into eating disorders because of my late niece.

I have read many articles and books on eating disorders with real facts by doctors and researchers. But I have also ran across information with not "so fact" opinoins from the authors. Things such as some sociologists believe women in the past two decades have had to hold down three jobs: being a mother; making a living; and being thin. A qoute from Naomi Woolf in her book Beauty Myth "Thinness means discipline, efficiency, and in control." to an author stating that eating disorders are encouraged by society to oppress women. Yet the true professionals say that society does play a roll in eating disorders it is not a large one. However, there are still many therapists claiming that society has a major impact through media and fashion outlets on eating disorders.

Quote - What I would suspect is that the individuals are suffering from low self-worth and see altering their body in accordance with society's "highest" standards as a means to feel good about themselves. The pressure to look like that comes from within - not from without.  I think what's key is your statement that, "If an individual has never had any other positive influences in their lives society is there only role model that they gage themselves by." That statement addresses the root of the problem. People don't have positive influences. They have absent fathers or mothers and broken homes. They see little stability in relationships. They see materialism as the goal of their existence, and find it unsatisfying. They see immediate gratification as 'life.' When they can't get that 'stuff' or that immediate gratification (which often happens because life simply isn't a 30 minute sitcom) they feel angry. And when they do get that 'stuff' they feel empty, because that's all it is. Stuff.

Agreed! I feel this is the main thought, and what I should have stuck with but I had too many thoughts and just kept typing..LOL! It all goes back to what kind of environment we were raised in. What was our means of emotional support? However, that isn't always the case either as with my niece. She was rasied in a loving home with as much emotional support my sister and brother-in-law could give. But as mentioned it's about control and in many disorders control plays a large roll. As I've said these are things I've read my only experience with this subject comes from my sister and even then I didn't feel the full affect. I've been around a long time, been in a lot of bad places and seen a lot of crap. But I am not closed minded to the point I can't learn more about stuff.

Quote - Out of curiosity, has there ever been a time (or culture) when women have not been idealized in some form or another? Has there ever been a time or culture when the local village, kingdom, or society has not pressured people to conform to it's standards? Especially those approaching the age where they could become married? If there has, it's been quite rare, which begs the question, what is genuinely different today?

Things have not changed but one, again my opinion, and that is back in the day people took responsiblity for thier actions and choices and they lived with the out come. Now days it's everyone else's fault or something in their environment has caused them to act the way they do.

LadySM my avatar was meant to be a joke. It has obviously failed...LOL!! OKay I'm done time to go have some fun!

Cheers,
Micheál

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