“Breaking the Dieting Habit” in Psychology Today

Category: Article Critique

Psychology Today is a popular press source with an article “Breaking the dieting habit” in one of its previous issues, which was devoted to drug treatment of anorexia or bulimia with naltrexone. The focus of the discussion is the presentation of the results aimed to highlight the effectiveness of the drug treatment method. The article dwells upon the research results devoted to the problem. Being aimed to show that drug method is really effective, the authors of the article inform readers about the positive results of the research presenting an interview with one of the participants of the experiment. Basically, the article points out the results of several different research projects. Finally, the authors of the article conclude that anorexia or bulimia is a very serious disease and drug treatment should be combined with the psychological assistance and other ways of recovery, which "also means no longer expressing a fear of getting fat or being obsessively preoccupied with weight, and eating normally" (Breaking the dieting habit, 1995, p. 12).

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The academic sources devoted to the same topic describe the subject in more detail having focused on other issues of the problem. Thus, Blomquist, Ansell, White, Masheb, and Grilo (2012) present the results of the research which explores connections between human contact and the behavioral patterns which lead to binge eating disorder. The article pays attention to the psychological processes and the vision of the problem from personal perspective. The authors explain why people have eating disorders, how their behavior assists this problem and which patterns of the behavior may change the situation. Another peer-reviewed article provides the information about the connection between diet and depression. Roefs, et al. (2012) are sure that the goals of weight loss are important in dealing with eating disorders and diets. Having an intention to lose weight some people become engaged by the very process of its loss and when they do not see any result they become addicted which leads to psychological problems and behavior change.

Academic articles give a detailed explanation of the research objectives, the methodology and its implementation, a detailed overview of the results and implement an elaborated discussion and analysis of the obtained results. The information in the article is laid out with the use of terminology, the results are organized appropriately in tables and the in-depth discussion is held. The authors of both articles inform the readers about the problem and offer the hypothesis which shows that both behavioral patterns and some particular psychological issues (such as depression) affect human desire to lose weight enormously. Each argument is supported with the strong facts which increase the affect. The authors inform the readers that those who have enormous desire to lose weight have been subjected to the depression and have been involved in the process, not in the result. Additionally, eating disorders may be built on human relationships and the way how they are expressed.

The information in the popular press article is more literary. The authors there pay attention to the audience presenting the information which should be delivered. This article tells that women have psychological problems and that these problems need solutions. “Breaking the dieting habit” article along with the research results presents the ways how to combat with the issue. The language is easy and understandable for the readers. Speaking about the problem the author proves that drug treatment is effective basing on the research conducted. The reader gets to know that the problem of anorexia or bulimia is widely - spread, however, there is a way out. Comparing and contrasting these two types of papers, a popular press article and academic articles, it becomes obvious that information in the peer-reviewed articles is more detailed with more sophisticated research. The authors are focused on one aspect and prove it while a popular press article is unfocused and gives general vision of the whole problem.

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