On February 22, 2022, James Madison University’s UREC hosted a NEDA event. NEDA is an acronym for National Eating Disorder Awareness. This year the week February 21st – February 27th was marked as the National Eating Disorder Awareness Week. JMU’s UREC recognized the importance of this week by holding a panel event where multiple faculty members with expertise or knowledge on this subject answered a variety of questions related to Eating Disorders. UREC’s website described this event as “an interactive panel that will explore real-life experiences and professional advice surrounding eating disorders.”
The panel members for this event were: Holly Bailey (Assistant Director for Fitness and Wellness at UREC), Daniel George (Doctoral Intern at JMU’s Counseling Center), Erin Williams (Clinical Case Manager at JMU’s Counseling Center), and Michele Cavoto (University Health Center Registered Dietitian at JMU).
The event, and the panelists themselves, were very informative. While attending this event, I learned many new things about eating disorders and the prevalence of these disorders. Over the span of the COVID-19 pandemic, hospitalizations due to eating disorders have doubled. This just goes to show how harmful the COVID-19 pandemic has been mentally for many individuals. The panelists also expressed how prevalent eating disorders are in the 18-22 (college) age group. A huge factor that contributes to this is comparison, especially social media comparison. Several of the panel members conversed about the extremely detrimental effect that social media can have on individuals. Nowadays, so many pictures are heavily filtered and edited that individuals are comparing themselves to something that isn’t even real, most of the time.
The panelists also talked about how you have to try your best to change the way you look at your body. It was encouraged that individuals should try their best to see their body as an amazing thing that enables them to do what they want to do, rather than just focusing on their appearance.
The thing that the panelists seem to emphasize the most is how important it is to seek help and that you don’t have to go through this on your own. If you see someone struggling or you yourself are struggling, please reach out to get help. The panelists stated that getting help is the best thing you can do if you have an eating disorder.
For JMU students, here are some resources down below that may help. You can call any of these numbers to schedule an appointment to get help for its specific area of expertise:
Counseling: 540-568-6552
Nutrition: 540-568-6178
Medical: 540-568-6178
Exercise: 540-568-8712