Chapter 10 First Impression

I do not think that this criteria is appropriate to determine whether some is eating healthy or has a mental disorder. First and foremost, the criteria states that it does not have a set standard for what is considered obsessive. It states that individual beliefs may vary and I think that is the biggest problem. If you can’t set a standard for which to compare how people are acting, how is someone to diagnose this mental illness? I think this is the problem with a lot of mental illnesses and even some addictions. There is not a clear universal standard for which to say whether or not someone is addicted or obsessive about something to the extent that it can be considered an illness.

Another non-specific qualification in this criteria is when the article states that violation of dietary restrictions set by one self can cause exaggerated fear of disease. First, there is not a standard for what dietary restrictions must be met in order to be considered eating healthy or obsessive. Also, there is not a baseline for exaggeration. What some people may see as exaggerated, others may see as normal. I understand that it is going to be difficult to set standards for these things when each individual is different, and hoping to achieve something different by eating healthy, but this lack of standards makes it difficult to determine whether someone is just eating healthy of is obsessive about it. If there was some way to set standards for things like healthy eating vs obsessive healthy eating, and other mental disorders, I think that would be the best thing to try to do.