Reflection On The Movie Thin

For this writing assignment, I watched the documentary Thin, a film that gives a glance inside of what it is like to live with an eating disorder and what the recovery is like. After watching this eye-opening documentary, my views on eating disorders have drastically changed. In this reaction paper, I will express my reactions to the film as well as take a look at the American Psychological Association’s criteria for eating disorders and how they apply to the patients in the film. There were two eating disorders that were apparent in the film that we also covered in class. The first bulimia nervosa, an eating disorder characterized by binge eating and followed by purging and other methods of losing weight. The other disorder is anorexia nervosa, …show more content…
According to the DSM-5, three signs or symptoms that characterize anorexia nervosa. There were several patients in the film that suffered from anorexia nervosa, however one really stood out to me. Shelly is one of those patients. First, there is restricted energy intake relative to requirements leading to significantly low body weight. Throughout the film, Shelly is shown counting calories and eating very little amounts of food. Next, there is an intense fear of gaining weight or becoming fat. This is another reason why Shelly counts calories and refuses to eat healthy foods. Finally, there is a disturbance in way in which one’s body weight or shape is experienced. Shelly does not believe that she has an eating disorder, however in a session with a psychiatrist, Shelly’s mother expressed to Shelly that she does not believe that Shelly is aware she has an eating disorder and is living an unhealthy lifestyle. What I found most interesting about Shelly is that she was a twin. She mentioned that she does not want to be exactly like her sister, nor does she want to weigh more than her sister. As an identical twin, I have never been obsessed with the need to look better than my brother, nor go to great extremes to have a better body image. The documentary Thin gave me a glimpse of what it is like to live with an eating disorder and how hard it is recover from one. Once again, I neither have family, nor