Eating disorders are a serious health problem. Nowadays, these disorders are very common and the number of people suffering from them is increasing every day. Many factors can lead to eating disorders; one of the main reasons seems to be the obsession with having a perfect body image that all celebrities, models and advertising girls have. The media presents a lot of beauty and thinness on television and in magazines which are seen by many people. There are many factors that can cause this widely known health problem, such as social anxiety, shyness, and fear of negative evaluation of one's appearance. In this research paper, I intend to present social anxiety and negative appearance evaluation as risk factors leading to eating disorders. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay. Rodebaugh states that social anxiety arises from the gap between the motivation to present the desired social image and the expectation that the person will fail to do so. therefore (126). Highly socially anxious individuals do not value their social performance abilities. They assume that their “interactions will be negative because of their inability to meet perfect standards” (Rodebaugh, 125). Moehn, in his book Coping with Social Anxiety, suggests that “Unfortunately, social anxiety is not an easy diagnosis” (6). . “It is sometimes difficult to distinguish social anxiety from normal shyness” (Moehn 7). Shyness can cause distress, as can social anxiety; it can affect your life and the way you act. She also states that literally millions of people are affected by the self-consciousness of having difficulty in social situations. For some, anxiety occurs during very specific events, such as giving a speech or eating in public. For others, social anxiety is part of everyday life (5). In cases where socially anxious people continue to self-monitor, they feel intrusive and unpleasant. Socially anxious people have a negative self-image. These images tend to be distorted and unrealistic representations of the self. However, “the negative self-images that phobic individuals create are perceived and treated as accurate. These images allocate cognitive resources and, therefore, prevent the creation of a socially supportive environment” (Moscovitch 183). Social anxiety can lead to bulimia. symptoms and body dissatisfaction, which is the first stage of eating disorders. Levinson states that experimental manipulations such as public speeches have consistently shown that individuals eat too much or too little in the presence of stress or fear activation (27). These people need a relevant audience to provide a self-assessment. Under social threat, phobic individuals can create severe social anxiety that can develop into eating disorders. Socially anxious people generally have high levels of perfectionism. Perfectionism is not only an important risk factor for maintaining social anxiety; it is also a significant risk factor for eating disorders. In other words, people who have high standards may suffer from eating disorders. According to Rodebaugh, perfectionism is linked to critical self-evaluation which can lead to anorexia and bulimia (126). The fear of a.