Presentation of eating disorders in the news media: What are the implications for patient diagnosis and treatment?

Eating disorders in the media: The changing nature of UK newspaper reports

“…Stigmatisation means that the experience of having an ED is often associated with high levels of shame (Troop, Allan, Serpell, & Treasure, 2008). Other evidence (O'Hara & Clegg-Smith, 2007) suggests lay people underestimate the severity and ease of recovery from EDs, as well as associating EDs almost exclusively with younger white women.…”

“…O'Hara and Clegg-Smith (2007) elaborate this view in their detailed study of ED reporting in seven US newspapers during [2004][2005]. They call for journalists to improve coverage of the causality, medical complications and treatment modalities of EDs, to combat stereotypes that associate EDs exclusively with celebrities and younger white women, and to present EDs as medical diseases rather than outcomes of narcissistic dieting behaviour, curable by an effort of will.…”

Hashtag Recovery: #Eating Disorder Recovery on Instagram

“…Downloading personal responsibility for health and wellness onto individuals promotes a neoliberal logic wherein people are required to self-manage in accordance with health instructions, regardless of personal circumstances (Sugarman 2015). In light of the narrow representation of eating disorders painted in media representations (O'Hara and Smith 2007) and, increasingly, social media representations of eating disorders, there is little space for those who do not fit the stereotypes to be recognized as legitimately suffering and able to perform their recovery in a way that is consistent with expectations for "recovered life".…”

“…There is a tension in the representational field around eating disorder recovery: in representations of "how to be recovered", we see depictions of recovery as a place of freedom from food and weight preoccupation and as a place of achievement of dominant eating and weight-related health dictates, often signalled through the use of stylized images of food and bodies. Magazines and newspapers often depict recovery as something achieved with relative ease (O'Hara and Smith 2007), in stark contrast to outcome literature reporting lower than 60% rates of "good outcomes" amongst even those whose eating disorders were diagnosed early and who were offered intervention deemed "evidence-based" . Recovery may be unimaginable to those undergoing treatment (Malson et al 2011), may be something about which those with eating disorders are ambivalent (Darcy et al 2010), and may feel overwhelming in the face of cultural narratives urging restraint and slimming .…”

How do we get our Daughter back? Parents' Perspectives on Recovery from Anorexia Nervosa

“…Parents felt they were acting in the young person's best interest by concealing the illness due to beliefs that it may be poorly understood or not accepted. O'Hara and Smith [35] investigated the portrayal of eating disorders in the media looking at articles printed in seven US newspapers over one year. Over this period, two hundred and ten articles included content about eating disorders but only a minority reflected on the severe physical impact and complicated treatment, potentially minimising the impact of the illness.…”