Trigger warning: the following article discusses eating disorders and statistics that may be triggering for some.
“Don’t eat that muffin, you’re going to look like Nella.”
I think I was in middle school when I heard my aunt tell her kids that. To be fair, I’m not too sure if that was something I was supposed to hear in the first place. Regardless, nothing was the same afterward. By the age of 12, I started expressing extreme discomfort and anxiety surrounding my body, which would then develop into an eating disorder that followed me all the way up until I started college.
I don’t want to get too graphic or go too far into the details of my story; I wouldn’t find that to be particularly beneficial to anyone. The point I would like to make, however, is that what I went through isn’t by any means an original experience. Eating disorders are a lot more common than we think, and in light of it being National Eating Disorder Awareness Week, it’s important we talk about these kinds of things in order to destigmatize the topic (because there is SO much stigma surrounding EDs) and make receiving proper help more accessible.
According to the National Alliance for Eating Disorders, a nonprofit organization providing those struggling with the proper resources and opportunities to receive the help they need, 29 million Americans will experience an eating disorder in their lifetimes, making up approximately 9% of the population. And while eating disorders do not discriminate along lines of gender, women are statistically more likely to develop one in comparison to men. Eating disorders have the second highest mortality rate among all psychiatric illnesses, resulting in one death every 52 minutes.
There is not one specific kind of eating disorder. A wide spectrum of EDs exist, varying in behavior and symptoms both psychological and physical, all of which are equally important and deserving of help. However, because a majority of eating disorders play so heavily in the psychological department, they are much harder to diagnose. In fact, so many EDs go undiagnosed, largely because someone may not meet specific weight or measurement requirements, despite showing quite obvious psychological signs of suffering. Once again, that doesn’t make your eating disorder any less valid; you are still entitled and deserving of the same kind of help as anyone else.
There are so many ways to get help. Opening up to a friend or loved one is always a great place to start. Therapy is a good one too, for those who have access to it. For those who might not, UConn’s Student Health and Wellness Services is an amazing on-campus resource to take advantage of, with programs that connect students with professional psychologists, dieticians, or specialists of any kind to get better. The National Alliance for Eating Disorders also has many services to utilize, including hotlines. What I’m trying to get at here is, there are so many resources to get the proper help you deserve.
Coming clean and admitting to struggling with an ED can be very intimidating — but it’s always worth it in the end. It’s the first step towards recovery, a state that I’ve been in for a few years, and will probably be in for the rest of my life. I committed to recovering about two years ago, the first year and a half of which was incredibly rough. I have since recovered my weight and found peace in my relationship with food and my body image, however, even now there are days when I can’t look at myself in the mirror and it just feels easier to give up. But I know that all the progress I have made is so much more important to me than just about anything else in the world.
You are not alone. If you or someone you know has an eating disorder and needs help, call the National Eating Disorders Association helpline at 1-800-931-2237, text 741741, or chat online with a Helpline volunteer here.