The college atmosphere, especially at very competitive universities such as Duke, often comes with an extreme pressure to look and be a certain way. Insecurities, peer pressure, depression and stress are all factors that unfortunately make it significantly easier to have an eating disorder. Chances are you know of at least one friend who either has an eating disorder, or you suspect has one. Despite how prominent eating disorders are, people know surprisingly little about them.
Over the summer I spent a lot of time writing a health guide about eating disorders for my internship at Children’s Hospital Boston. Here are a few essential facts that everyone should know, but doesn’t know about eating disorders:
Anorexia and bulimia aren’t the only eating disorders.
There are 4 main types of eating disorders:
Anorexia– food restriction, results in extreme weight loss, preoccupation with thoughts about food and loss of period.
Bulimia– involves bingeing (eating abnormally large amounts of food) and purging (includes over exercising, vomiting, taking laxatives).
Binge eating disorder- involves eating an unusually large amount of food in a short period of time and feeling a loss of control. Binge eaters do not purge afterwards, but often feel a lot of shame or guilt about binge eating.
Eating disorder not otherwise specified (EDNOS)– involves a combination of symptoms of the other eating disorders such as an intense fear of weight gain and a preoccupation with food (thinking about food or having food related thoughts most of the day). Many people with EDNOS have symptoms of the other eating disorders, but may not meet the exact criteria, and therefore are diagnosed with EDNOS.
Disordered eating is not healthy or normal.
Disordered eating is a term used to describe when someone doesn’t have all the symptoms of an eating disorder, but their eating patterns and behaviors put them at risk for developing an eating disorder. For example, anorexia can start when dieting becomes too extreme; binge eating disorder or bulimia can start because dieting often restricts amount and type of food, so when a diet is broken, it can lead to uncontrollable eating and loss of control around food.
Eating disorders are not all about losing weight.
People’s unhealthy relationship with food is often a manifestation of something else. This could be low self-esteem, depression, loneliness, PTSD or another form of emotional distress. Depending on the person, these struggles can lead them to either under eat or overeat.
People suffering from eating disorders aren’t always stick thin.
Although people with anorexia are often underweight, people suffering from binge eating disorder, bulimia and EDNOS are often at a normal weight, or even overweight.
They are more common than you think they are, especially in college.
According to an article written in the Chronicle, CAPS reported that 600 people had an unhealthy relationship with food and/or their bodies and around 100 people had a clinical diagnosis of an eating disorder. If these statistics don’t seem very shocking, consider the fact that these are only people who sought guidance at CAPS and therefore are not representative of the whole student body.
Eating disorders are considered a type of addiction.
To be addicted to something means that you are dependent on it, and that you cannot control yourself from behaving a certain way. If you know someone suffering from an eating disorder, or if you have had an eating disorder yourself, you may recognize what kind of serious hold the illness can have over a person. When they cannot use eating disordered behaviors to cope with their emotions, people often manifest extreme discomfort and distress.
Recovering from an eating disorder is possible, but is nearly impossible to do on your own.
Eating disorders are not extreme dieting. They are not something that you can wake up one morning to be cured from, or decide that you no longer want to have. They often require therapy from not only a therapist but also from a doctor and nutritionist. Therefore, if you or one of your friends manifests symptoms of an eating disorder, I recommend setting up an appointment with CAPS. Whether or not you may be diagnosed with an eating disorder, it is always better to be safe than sorry.
Photo Source:
Image from: http://www.disorder.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/Causes-of-Eating-Disorders.jpg(photoshopped)