Meghan Trainor—along with many other celebrities and companies in the United States—has boldly proclaimed her support of the body image acceptance movement.
She’s “All About That Base,” and is encouraging others to accept the bodies they have.
Her aim is to decrease the negative body image that so many young adolescents and adults have developed growing up in a culture that idealizes and idolizes ultra-thinness. By encouraging the acceptance of our bodies, the advocates like Meghan Trainor likely hope to see a decrease in eating disorders—such as bulimia nervosa (BN).
However, there is curious research into the psychology and chemistry of BN that happens to suggest a lot more than just a negative body image factor at play.
The True Predispositions
First off, some people are more predisposed to developing BN than others—we all have to eat, we all like to eat junk food, and we all want to lose weight, but not all of us develop BN.
This predisposition seems to be the beginning of a complex development process.
Predisposition can be genetic, and can be determined based on how much self-control one has—which is somewhat determined chemically through serotonin and dopamine regulatory measurements.
The predisposition also is linked to a person’s attitude. If a person has a negative affect—meaning they are very likely to be in a negative mood—they are more likely to develop BN as well.
With these predispositions, when a person is placed in the right environment, BN develops.
The True Development
In this development process, the person first acts on impulse. Likely the person is in a “bad mood” maybe due to negative body image, or maybe due to stresses in life. They are also likely on a diet. When they have reached the point of exhausting their self-control and/or ability to deal with negative stressors, they binge eat.
This binge eating, in the impulsive stage, acts as a positive reinforcement reward. The brain is given what it wants and the person feels satisfied.
After the binge, the person will feel they have undone what they have desired to accomplish and purge their binge. This begins the cycle again. The cycle eventually leads to more compulsive actions.
The compulsive stage is similar to drug addiction. The patient seeks out the binge in the same way a heroin addict seeks out heroin.
The binge now provides more of a negative reinforcement. The binge takes away negative stressors in life via distraction, and/or satisfies the body of foods it has been deprived of during a diet.
The True Perpetuation
(#artstracts)
The interesting thing about BN is not the negative self-image and strive for a perfect body, but the way in which the disease perpetuates.
Because the disease adopts reward functions that mimic drug addiction, the ideal body image becomes a secondary reason for the disease.
If the negative self-image was taken away—like Meghan Trainor and others are trying to do—it is likely that people who suffer from BN would still suffer from addictive and harmful behaviors. This is due to their predisposition to these types of behaviors with low self-control complexes in combination with high negative affect.
Yes, the negative affect that results from negative body image would be removed—but the negative affect caused by other stressors in life would not be, and could result in the same reward seeking cycles with other diagnosis—such as drug addiction, alcoholism, or gambling.
The impulsivity of these patients and their lack of ability to deal with negative emotions will likely persist and lead them to other harmful behaviors if negative body image is eradicated in this culture.
The True Promising Solutions
So, in getting to the root of Meghan Trainor’s likely goal—no, she is not going to rid the world of bulimic-like tendencies. She may succeed in lowering the rates of eating-disorders, but in the case of patients suffering from BN, it will likely take shape in a different harmful behavior.
While her songs are catchy and her intentions are good, Meghan’s ideas are not going to solve the problem. What is? Further research into cognitive functions of bulimic patients and their emotion regulation patterns, as well as further research into the regulatory roles of both dopamine and serotonin in decreasing impulsivity.
