I remember learning about eating disorders in my 10th grade health class. My teacher presented a slideshow, and told us that we would be quizzed the following Friday. This slideshow included standard symptoms and long-term effects, followed by pictures of the most emaciated and decayed girls I had ever seen. I remember looking up at the girls in the pictures, puzzled and disgusted. What could possibly motivate someone to put their body through that? How come no one helped them?
Just like learning about systematic equations in precalculus, these disorders seemed so foreign, and so unlikely to present themselves in the real world. I sat there in my soccer warm up suit, scribbling down notes before the bell rang, shaking my head at the idea that a woman could cognitively harm herself for the sake of body image. The only thing I captured from that lecture was that some girls starve themselves to lose weight. I would never give up Zaxby’s crinkle fries for a smaller number on the scale! How silly!
Two years later, I went to college.
A few months into my time at school, I learned that its normal to call yourself fat in order to make your friend feel better about herself. I learned that in order to have fun on spring break, you have to cut out carbs and take shots of apple cider vinegar. I learned that it’s okay to make yourself throw up after dinner, as long as you fit in your date party dress. I learned that as long as you’re skinny, it doesn’t matter whether you’re healthy or not.
I remember asking myself: How can I go to the gym six days a week, eat two salads a day, and still weigh more than my roommate? Why is everyone so much smaller than me? How can I treat my body so well, but be so unhappy with it? I had never been so intoxicated by my self esteem, and so infuriated by what the mirror spit back at me. I let body dysmorphia control my lifestyle, and I was not alone.
College changes you. Your mentality, your outlook on life, your behaviors and your image alter with each new stage of life. Sadly, these changes are not always for the better. Eating disorders are more prominent in college-aged women than any other age or gender, and have the highest mortality rate of all mental illnesses. Amidst the casualness of body negativity, the stress of school work and the overwhelming feelings of self-doubt, many of these young women do not seek help until it is too late.
Eating disorders stem from things such as low self-esteem, digestive failures, appearance ideals, fat talk, unhealthy lifestyles and body dysmorphia — all prominent factors in college lifestyles. Subconscious acts of self-hate have become so popular and so dismissed, disorders appear as normal lifestyle habits. These girls are fighting battles with no armor. With only 20% of eating disorders being actively treated, change needs to happen, and it needs to happen fast.
This week, Feb. 26 through March 4, is National Eating Disorder Awareness Week. A week for actively treated diagnoses, denied relapses and unidentified illnesses.
For the girls looking in the mirror, riddled with dissatisfaction for the image looking back at them.
For the girls rushing to the bathroom after dinner, bellies full, aching to be purged.
For the girls incapable of resisting the urge to fill themselves with an edible form of pain.
For the girls so enveloped by their mentalities, they forget to seek help.
For the girls so devoured by their pain, they refuse to seek help.
For the girls who gained the power to defeat the odds.
The NEDA movement is for the girls fighting a battle within and against themselves.
This week is for you. This article is for you.
The stigma behind eating disorders highlights an emaciated, depressed, outwardly unhealthy person. Truthfully, most eating disorders show no outward symptoms or aggressive weight changes. Not all eating disorders even have a name. You see, this is where it becomes complicated. Society hides these prominent hardships so deep under the horrific Google image searches, that women are hurting and not understanding when help is needed. Doctors cannot cure these disorders with medicine. However, foundations like NEDA can help cure eating disorders. Articles like this can help cure eating disorders. People like you can help cure eating disorders.
When your roommate says she can’t wear a tight dress because she is bloated, tell her she is beautiful regardless of what dress she wears. When your best friend says she needs to lose weight for spring break, tell her she will have fun no matter what she looks like. When you hear someone at the gym commenting on the size of their legs, remind them of their legs’ strength. When you look in the mirror, thank your body for helping you live with purpose.
The truth about eating disorders is that you never know who is hurting. Raise statistical awareness. Combat fat talk. Spread body positivity. Love yourself. Love others. Healthiness is a lifestyle and confidence is a mind set. Use your confidence to change the world.