Eating Disorders Essay -- essays research papers

The first thing to keep in mind is that as an "outsider" (not suffering from an Eating Disorder yourself) there are many things you cannot do to help a family member or friend to get better. You cannot force an Anorexic to eat, keep a bulimic from purging, or make a Compulsive Overeater stop overeating. The first thing to realize once you have come to the awareness that your loved-one suffers from an Eating Disorder, is that you must not concentrate immediately on the food. All forms of Eating Disorders are emotionally based and the behaviors are only a symptom to emotional and stress related problems. As said many times on this site, disordered eating is an attempt to control, hide, stuff, avoid and forget emotional pain, stress and/or self-hate. If you are the parent of a child under 18 you will have difficult decisions to make regarding their care. Regardless of pleas to "not make me," and promises that the behavior will stop, you will have to stay very attuned to what is happening with your child and may have to force them to go to doctors and/or the hospital. Keep in mind how serious Eating Disorders are and that they can kill. If your relationship with someone suffering from Anorexia, Bulimia or Compulsive Overeating is anything other than their parent, or if your child is over the age of 18 then you cannot force them to seek help. You can support and encourage your loved one, and gently express concern, and the best thing you can do is to learn to attentively listen. In most cases it will be important for each sufferer to find a mode of recovery that will work for them. One-on-one therapy, support groups, clinics, in-patient or out-patient, art therapy, church groups, a combination of any, or none of the above but something completely different ... there are many options out there. Share this website, help your friend or family member to gather information if they are open to your help. Be encouraging -- there can be a lot of road blocks in searching for Eating Disorder recovery so be reassuring that recovery is possible! Be there to listen and communicate. Some options for local treatment are here ... and a listing a national organizations is here. Most of the national organizations can refer you to local chapters, support groups and therapy in your area. For the Anorexic or Bulimic who exhibits any of the following sig... ...derstanding individual. Those suffering with an Eating Disorders are not DOING anything to you, but are struggling tremendously themselves, inside. You need to keep this in mind when posing questions that are selfishly motivated or hurtful (even if unintentionally). "Why are you doing this to yourself?" "Your have good things in your life, what's the problem?" Those with an Eating Disorder do not choose to do this to themselves. There is no conscious choice (in most cases) where a person suffering from an Eating Disorder would prefer that lifestyle as opposed to one filled with self-love and happiness. This is a coping mechanism, a means for dealing with depression, stress and self-hate that has been built up over many years. It is a reflection of how the person suffering feels about themselves inside. Wonderful husbands, kids, supportive friends have little influence (other than sometimes temporarily) in creating the true self-esteem required for permanent recovery, to cope with life positively, and to learn to believe that we deserve good things in life and happiness. These disorders are about the person suffering and how they feel about themselves.

Analysis of the Macro and Micro Environment at British Airways Essay

British Airways is the largest international scheduled airline in the UK. The company was founded in 1919, and has continued to grow and expand since privatisation in 1987, until the global recession hit in 2008. On 23rd January 2009 the UK was officially declared to be in recession following two consecutive quarters in 2008 during which economic growth dropped (BBC, 2009). Many businesses, including British Airways, have found it increasingly difficult to survive in the resulting testing macroeconomic environment. The Recession  A recession will often occur when inflation grows rapidly; goods become more expensive at a time when consumers have less money to spend. As consumers spend less money, supply begins to exceed demand within the markets. This causes businesses to produce less of their goods, and so require less staff. The unemployment that results from this creates a situation whereby people do not trust the markets and have less money, so stop spending, thus creating a vicious circle. UK unemployment figures up to March 2010 show that unemployment has risen to 8%, the highest figure since 1996. For many people, air travel is a luxury good. This means that in times of hardship, where the consumer is reducing their spending, air travel will be an area that is very hard hit, as many people are not taking holidays. For some consumers, air travel is for business purposes, as opposed to recreational. This area of the market has not been hit as hard, although many people are now flying in economy class, where they might previously have flown in business or first class. Business and first class passengers have played a large part in BA’s profitability, as they account for a large proportion of the company’s profit. Low-cost, budget airlines such as Ryan Air have done comparatively well, producing profits in a market where very few businesses have been able to. Budget airlines are supplying an â€Å"inferior good†. This means that as consumer income decreases, a demand for the service will increase as the service is seen to be more affordable. Production Costs Over recent years the cost of fuel has increased dramatically, and as each airport has only one fuel supplier, BA is working within a limited market, where there is a lack of price competition to drive the price of fuel down. With demand continuing to exceed the supply of fuel the equilibrium point of the supply and demand curve is continually changing, this allows the fuel suppliers to increase their costs. As demand for air travel has dropped and production costs have increased, BA has found that an increasing number of flights are running with too few passengers to make the flight profitable. However, if BA were to decrease the number of flights they would risk losing their slots at the major airports, which would be disastrous when the market begins to pick up and demand for flights increases again. Willie Walsh, chief executive of BA, believes that a compromise must be found between surviving throughout this difficult climate, and growing the business so that it can prosper once the economy has recovered. Iberia Merger BA has recently signed a merger with Spain’s Iberian Airlines. This will promote the business to being one of the largest international providers of air travel. It is predicted that the merger will allow the two companies to save around ? 50 million per year, which will greatly benefit shareholders as the profit will be seen to increase, and also benefit customers as the synergy between the routes and aircraft used should offer more choice at a more competitive price (Price, 2010). Government Policy As a result of the recent recession, the government has taken steps to increase consumer spending. Increased consumer spending is necessary in order to increase the UK’s GDP (gross domestic product) and so ensure that the recovery from the recent recessi on will continue. Some of these policy responses from the government included lowering VAT from 17. 5% to 15% as of December 1st 2008 (Finch, 2008). This was a move which was aimed at lowering the price of goods and so encouraging the public to spend more. This would start to regain consumer trust, and also start to put money back into the market. The major downside to this policy change is that due to a lower governmental income from VAT, the government has been forced to increase the UK’s national debt and run a larger budget deficit in order to keep national services running. There has been considerable debate as to how much this policy actually helped to bring the UK out of the recession, but it did encourage consumers to have more faith in the government and the economy and to spend more money. By encouraging a higher rate of consumer spending, the economy is starting to recover; this is a positive sign for British Airways as it means that customers are beginning to increase again. As the consumer is regaining faith in the economy they are becoming more likely to pre-book a holiday as they have more money available to them. This cut in VAT has also allowed companies such as BA to either increase their profit margins slightly or lower their prices slightly (BBC, 2009). The Bank of England Since the start of the recent recession, the pound has weakened considerably. With the UK economy struggling and consumers having borrowed heavily before the recession, currency traders have flooded the market with sterling, resulting in the pound dropping in value. In an attempt to maintain monetary stability the Bank of England dropped the national interest rates from 5% down to as low as 0. 5% (Bank of England, no date). This also caused currency traders to attempt to trade their sterling to a currency returning a higher profitability, such as the Euro (Bank of England, 2010). However, this move was needed in order to attempt to keep inflation low and encourage banks to continue to supply loans, overdrafts and mortgages. This was a move which was needed in order to try and maintain consumer trust, but the weakening pound has made business increasingly difficult for international companies as importing goods needed to provide their surface has increased thus increasing their production costs, although it does make the service cheaper for foreign consumers. Leadership Theories Willie Walsh became CEO of British Airways in 2005; since then he has faced numerous challenges as the global economy has been hit hard by the recent recession. Walsh was brought in by British Airways as CEO following his success as CEO of Aer Lingus, where he helped to bring the company out of the financial difficulty that it suffered as a result of the terrorist attacks in 2001, by cutting 2000 jobs and finding new ways to cut costs (Saunders, 2008). In the current economic climate, where the industry has been severely hit by the recent recession, a leader is needed who is able to react to an ever-changing dynamic environment. Walsh has proved his ability to do this, and has been quick to react with BA by cutting many jobs as the recession hit, and working out new ways in which the company can be run more efficiently, such as by reducing the number of aircraft and raising the efficiency of staff. This style of leadership is known as transformational leadership; it relies upon a leader who has a concept of the direction he wishes the business to take, and has the ability to motivate and inspire his employees in order to attain this goal. Motivation – Content and Process Theories Motivation theories have been developed so that leaders and managers can understand the theory behind the different methods of motivating their workforce and thus work out the most productive and efficient of these methods. It is a common belief that leaders are born and not made; this is supported to some extent by motivation theories as the best leaders will be more perceptive as to how change is affecting his workforce, and the areas in which improvements could be made, as they will have a natural empathy. The best leaders will also be able to use this to the advantage of their company; they will be able to motivate their workforce to a higher work capacity level and so promote productivity. Motivation theories work on the basis that employees carry out work for a variety of reasons, which are weighted in terms of their importance. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Need (shown in the diagram below) suggests that there are 5 levels at which a person must be fulfilled before they will perform at their optimal capacity, with the lower levels being the first to be fulfilled and the most important. BA has recently asked its employees to consider working unpaid for up to one month, in a bid to keep the company afloat. Many employees have resisted this change, with only 800 out of 40,000 staff asked agreeing to this. Other options were also put forward to staff, including the option to take unpaid leave or to work part-time; these proved more popular with employees. A reduction in salary would affect employees at the bottom two levels on Maslow’s Hierarchy as with reduced income some may struggle to provide for their physiological needs. This in turn will affect the employee at several levels up the hierarchy; they will feel less secure within their job and society, and consequently on a higher more emotional level. Content theories of motivation suggest that there are three main components which motivate people; these are direction (what they want), intensity (how much they want it) and persistence (how far they will go to attain this). Following on from his, it is assumed that people will work for rewards. These rewards can then be split into two main areas; intrinsic and extrinsic. Content theories place a higher emphasis upon the intrinsic factors, such as the internal drives which motivate people to work. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Need is one example of this, and Herzberg’s 2-factor theory is another. Herzberg’s theory relies upon hygiene (extrinsic) and motivators (intrinsic) and suggests that extrinsic factors are important in preventing job dissatisfaction, whereas intrinsic factors are more concerned with self-respect and achievement, thus promoting job satisfaction. Process theories such as J Stacy Adam’s Equity theory, suggest that people are more productive when they perceive that they are receiving fair treatment, and will tend to act if they believe they are being unfairly treated when they compare themselves to others within their social network. Vroom’s Expectancy theory also works upon a basis of fair treatment, but focuses upon the worker’s belief that if they put more effort in, their performance will improve, and their manager will reward them fairly, with a reward that is of value to the individual worker. Managers must therefore identify the rewards that workers will place a high value upon, and attempt to minimise any undesirable outcomes. British Airways needs to focus more upon employee satisfaction, particularly within this economic climate, as this will encourage workers to perform at a higher capacity and thus increase efficiency of the company. Threat of future redundancies is a big motivating factor for many employees; if process theory is applied, so that employees believe increased effort will lead to fair reward (ie. keeping their job) they may be more likely to perform better. Management of Change Theories regarding management of change focus on minimising resistance to change, as this is more likely to make the proposed change viable. Force field analysis requires managers to assess the pro’s and con’s of change, and the movement that will be needed to effect this change. For example, with BA’s pay freeze and request for unpaid work, there will be resistance to this change, based upon a fear of lower income, but, for some, the fear of redundancies and dismissal will outweigh the risk of a month unpaid (BBC, 2009). Resistance to change is often natural due to a fear of the unknown; employees often fear that if they work at a higher capacity this will become the expected normality, which may be difficult to sustain, and can encourage workers to thus work at a lower performance level. Lewin’s 3-step change process identifies unfreezing (where the status quo is disturbed), movement (where new behaviour is adopted) and refreezing (where the new patterns are established as normal) as the three stages. Unfreezing is perceived to be the most difficult to implement, as this is where a fear of the unknown will have the greatest impact. For managers to overcome this they must show empathy, communication and participation. Willie Walsh shows an example of this as he has ensured that all BA employees are kept well informed of all plans towards cost-cutting and voluntarily agreed to work for July without receiving his ? 61,000 monthly salary in a bid to encourage workers to do the same. This also uses process theories of motivation, as it encourages workers to feel that they are receiving fair treatment. Unfortunately for BA, many employees feel that they are being treated unfairly, leading to numerous recent strikes, which have caused massive further losses to the company.

The Power of One Edgar Allan Poe - 2484 Words

How does one person change the world? Is it through politics, social media, or philosophy? How about literature? Literature is essential to the understanding of basic ideas, concepts, and universal themes. Its influence on the world is tremendous. Literature has the power of moving people to do things to change the world. The authors behind these writings have the same effect. American poet and author, Edgar Allan Poe, changed the world through literature. His riveting classics have had a huge impact on American and international literature. Through his intriguing short stories and timeless love poems, Edgar Allan Poe was able to change the world. Edgar Allan Poe was born on January 19, 1809 to professional actors in Boston,†¦show more content†¦The women in his life made huge impacts on his writing as well. The heartbreak that Poe suffered from several women â€Å"helped spur a few stories and numerous poems† (Lockwood 7:42). In addition to women, Poe’s personal health impacted his writing. The parallels in Poe’s stories match up to similar situations that Poe himself went through in his life. â€Å"[M]any of [Poe’s] writings reflect what happened to him in his childhood and teen years,† which provided Poe with a good foundation to build his stories upon (AE 4:48). There are two common parallels that can be seen through Poe’s writing. In Poe’s short story, â€Å"The Mask of the Red Death,† a person coughing up blood goes hand in hand with tuberculosis. This deathly disease had a horrible effect on Poe, and it is shown through the writing of â€Å"The Mask o f the Red Death.† Another parallel that is noticed is the foreshadowing in Poe’s most popular story, â€Å"The Raven.† Published in 1845, â€Å"‘The Raven’ made Poe an overnight sensation, which led to huge crowds at his lectures† (Life 2). In this short story, the narrator was mourning the death of his loved one. Two years later Poe’s wife, Virginia, died of tuberculosis. Poe then became the narrator of â€Å"The Raven† because he too was mourning the death of his loved one. Several archetypes can be found in many of Poe’s short stories and poems. These archetypes are based off of the people who came and went in his life; however, many of these people areShow MoreRelatedInfluence That Endures Ever More: Edgar Allan Poe908 Words   |  4 PagesInfluence That Endures Ever More: Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe once said, â€Å"Words have no power to impress the mind without the exquisite horror of their reality.† Edgar Allan Poe was one of the most influential people in literary history and his words had the great power to impress the mind. More than 150 years after the death of Edgar Allan Poe, his writings are still influencing and inspiring writers today. 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