How Does Social Media Affect Eating Disorders?

The three most common eating disorders negatively influence the lives of more than 30 million Americans. Eating disorders do not discriminate based on age, race, national origin, and religious beliefs. The part mental and part physical harmful health condition can adversely impact just about anyone.

Anorexia Nervosa

Anorexia nervosa includes habits such as fasting, dieting, over-exercising, and taking diet pills to compensate for what is self-perceived to be a weight control problem. Individuals that struggle with anorexia nervosa have an unadulterated disdain for their bodies, even if they maintain a relatively fit and finely-toned body shape. The average body weight for an anorexia nervosa patient sits around 15 percent lower than the national average for both age and height.

Intense fear of gaining weight triggers an inordinate amount of stress, which translates into unhealthy symptoms such as high blood pressure.

Bulimia Nervosa

Bulimia disorder represents the two extremes of an eating disorder. Patients that suffer from bulimia nervosa experience frequent incidents when they consume large amounts of food, only to purge the food from their systems immediately after eating a super-large meal. Purging involves throwing up and/or following a strict fasting regimen. As opposed to anorexia bulimia, which produces weight loss, someone suffering from bulimia nervosa can be underweight, overweight, or not experience a weight change at all.

The incidents of uncontrolled eating can last between two weeks and three months. Longer bouts with bulimia nervosa often generate severe health consequences.

Binge Eating

Binger eaters eat large quantities of food during a short period. The harmful behavior can occur two times a week and last for as long as six consecutive months. People that struggle with a binge eating disorder do not take measures to lose the weight that increases during each session. After completing a binge eating session, an individual feels a wide range of negative emotions like guilt, shame, and distress.

The constant gaining of weight places a tremendous amount of stress on the heart, as well as dramatically decreases someone’s self-esteem. Binger eaters usually eat in secret, as well as experience wild, sudden mood swings.

Social media has transformed from a platform that people used in their spare time to an indispensable digital tool that fosters both personal and professional relationships. The increase in popularity of social media has corresponded to a rise in serious mental health conditions caused by overexposure to any of the most accessed sites.

People that suffer from an eating disorder can develop negative mental and emotional health symptoms simply by looking at photographs of individuals that flaunt their physiques. Negative mental and emotional symptoms can include envy, embarrassment, and even depression. The feeling of depression can develop into thinking suicidal thoughts because of a significant feeling of inadequacy. The constant bombardment of advertisements featuring ideal body types can lead to much lower self-esteem.

Defamation of character can elicit a much stronger negative mental and emotional response to an eating disorder. The legal principle has become a serious issue on social media sites where many users like or mock other users because of a substantial character flaw or flaws. People living with an eating disorder represent a prime target for written abuse in the form of insults and highlighting someone’s eating disorder to other users of a social media platform. Defamation of character can permanently damage the reputation of an individual who suffers from an eating disorder.

By working with one of the highly-rated defamation of character attorneys at Morgan and Morgan, you can stop online harassment and possibly receive compensation for the mental and emotional distress triggered by someone who defamed you because of an eating disorder.

Addressing the mental health issues that arise because another party defamed your character on a social media site can be overwhelming. You might experience a sinking feeling of helplessness, which prompts you to do nothing to fight back against slander in digital form. Giving up is not the way to deal with defamation of character on a social media site. However, you should not get embroiled in a war of words on a platform such as Twitter.

Instead, follow a few steps to take action against someone mocking you because of an eating disorder.

Gather and Organize Evidence

Because everyone leaves a digital footprint, you should download and save every defaming statement made by another party on a social media site concerning your eating disorder. For example, you download every tweet sent by someone who defamed your character. Facebook posts offer another resource for collecting and organizing the evidence you need to build a persuasive case for defamation of character.

Saving and downloading mocking images also provides your lawyer with sufficient evidence to build a strong case for filing a civil lawsuit that seeks monetary damages.

Present Your Side

Although you do not want to get in a war of words with another party, you should promote your side of the story by presenting positive information regarding your eating disorder. Education can be the key that unlocks compassion and understanding, instead of negative behaviors such as making derisive comments. You can upload images of your progress from battling an eating disorder, as well as help others struggling with an eating disorder implement strategies to return to a more standard diet.

Hire an Attorney

Hiring an attorney can make defamation of character for an eating disorder quickly stop. The threat of taking legal action often is a strong enough deterrent to make another party stop defaming you on a social media platform.

When you meet with one of the highly-rated defamation attorneys at Morgan and Morgan, you can expect the lawyer sitting across from you to conduct an exhaustive review of the evidence you have collected. Your legal counsel reads the statements issued by other online users of the same platform who read the defaming comments left by another party. Your attorney walks you through the litigation process, which includes trying to negotiate a financial settlement with the other party’s lawyer.

Mail a Cease and Desist Letter

The first step for ending defamation of character involves sending the other party a certified cease and desist letter. Mailing a certified letter ensures the other party receives the correspondence through the United States Postal System (USPS). Your cease and desist letter should include details concerning the online harassment you have faced because of an eating disorder. Attaching a few images of the messages left online by the defendant should convince the other party’s lawyer that you have built a persuasive case.

The other party can ignore the cease and desist letter or respond with a proposal to negotiate a settlement. Negotiating a settlement is a much more favorable legal outcome because you avoid a costly and time-consuming trial.

File a Defamation of Character Lawsuit

The attorney that you hire from Morgan and Morgan tries to negotiate a settlement. If the other party submits an unreasonable value for compensation, your attorney will not hesitate to take the other party to court by suing for defamation of character. You must file a civil lawsuit by the deadline established in the state where you live. The Morgan and Morgan attorney that you hire for legal support ensures you file a civil lawsuit for defamation of character long before the expiration of the statute of limitations.

Your commitment should be to take steps to end eating disorder defamation committed on a social media platform. One of the steps involves hiring an experienced defamation lawyer who specializes in cases that involve harassment on social media platforms. You should never have to deal with intense negative emotions that develop because of an eating disorder.

Schedule a free case evaluation today with a Morgan and Morgan attorney who can end defamation of your character, as well fight for just compensation. We operate on a contingency fee basis, which means you do not pay any upfront legal fees to receive the best legal support.