You probably didn’t know that February 22-28 is National Eating Disorder Awareness Week. You can help spread awareness by checking out the events being hosted at The Health and Wellness Resource Center, located right here at Temple. Some of the events include a “Build-a-Barbie” table containing information about disorders, located at the Student Center; a movie screening of “For the Love of Nancy” on 2/26 at 6PM inside the Wellness Resource Center; as well as a time to make positive affirmations, on 2/23 at 5PM inside the Wellness Resource Center.
With the second semester in full swing, campus turns from a jovial, post-holiday place to one of stress and franticness. Students can be seen hurrying from class to class and in the library with their brows furrowed as they look over a textbook. This uptick in stress often causes a lot of students to resort to stress-relieving activities or coping mechanisms. However, with the coupling of new year’s resolutions and increased stress, some will turn to less-than-ideal coping mechanisms, one of the most harmful being an eating disorder. If you’re worried this might be you (or someone you know) here are a few signs or symptoms for which you should be looking:
- Sudden and/or intense preoccupation with food, weight, or calories
- Withdraw from friends and family coupled with extreme irritability, crankiness, or mood swings
- Reports of always feeling cold
- Anxiety or intense panic in regards to current weight, gaining weight, or perceived weight gain
- Swelling of the glands right below the cheeks and jaw
- Constant excuses made to avoid eating
- Rigidity of schedule regarding exercising or eating
- Binge eating in conjunction with negative feelings (i.e. shame, embarrassment, feeling out of control)
- Consistent and repeated restricting of food intake in order to compensate for calories consumed via alcohol
- Refusing to eat any food deemed “unhealthy”
- Obsessive consumption of diet soda, chewing gum, coffee, or tea in order to reduce feelings of hunger
These are just some of the main identifying factors for the more prevalent eating disorders: Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa, Binge Eating Disorder, and Orthorexia. While the psychiatric world does aim to set diagnostic criteria for eating disorders, the actual illness is somewhat of a spectrum. Even if you don’t fit the listed criteria exactly, you can still very much suffer from an eating disorder. If you feel that you or someone you know meets any of the listed criteria and/or may have an eating disorder, you can do a self-diagnostic test.
Eating disorders are a serious illness that can affect a student of any race, gender, or age. If you feel like you are in need of support and guidance, know that there are several places on campus to which you can go for help, including Tuttleman Counseling or the Wellness Resource Center. Eating Disorders are an illness just like diabetes; they require treatment and assistance from a professional. By hosting a new NEDAwareness week event, as well as educating our campus more about the prevalence of Eating Disorders, we can aim to make Temple a more welcoming space in regards to openness for those who are struggling with an eating disorder.