If you have grappled with an eating disorder or watched a loved one struggle with a disease like anorexia or bulimia, you will know all too well that the condition has less to do with food and aesthetic appearance and more to do with the inner workings of the patient's mind, and the ways in which they choose to exert control over their own lives.
With that in mind, it may come as a surprise to many to learn that veteran broadcaster and Labour Party Peer, Baroness Joan Bakewell, is of the opinion the sometimes fatal diseases are merely "a sign of teenage narcissism."
Speaking to The Sunday Times, the 82-year-old, who won Journalist of the Year in 2009, implied that the conditions are merely a product of an appearance-driven society, saying: "I am alarmed by anorexia among young people, which arises presumably because they are preoccupied with being beautiful and healthy and thin."
"No one has anorexia in societies where there is not enough food. They do not have anorexia in the camps in Syria. I think it’s possible anorexia could be about narcissism," she continued in an interview which is bound to ignite serious debate among thousands.
Giving further insight into her perspective on the mental illnesses which have claimed the lives of thousands, she told the publication: "To be unhappy because you are the wrong weight is a sign of the overindulgence of our society, over-introspection, narcissism, really."
Baroness Bakewell's comments come after UK Prime Minister David Cameron pledged to reduce the waiting time for patients suffering from these disorders.
