Eating Disorders
Before reading this article, you may have misconceptions about eating disorders. Many of these are common, such as they only happen to athlete girls. While it is true that athletes and girls have a greater risk for developing eating disorders, they can happen to anyone at any time for any reason. Sometimes, an eating disorder can even occur simply because a diet causes someone to lose weight, and they continue losing weight and appetite at an unhealthy rate but do not want to stop.
An eating disorder is a disturbance in eating patterns and related thoughts and emotions. The biggest symptoms for eating disorders are an unhealthy loss of weight and a change in beliefs about food. A big warning sign is when someone simply stops eating, and always says they are not hungry no matter what. They may attribute their symptoms such as headaches or fatigue to some other external factor, even when it is clear that the problem is about simply not eating. Another common eating disorder is bulimia - a person with bulimia will alternately binge on food in large amounts and then purge it through vomiting, laxatives,etc. If someone repeatedly hides after meals, it may be a warning sign for bulimia. A big not about this eating disorder and eating disorders in general is that while weight loss is a symptom, weight loss may not occur. In fact, many with eating disorders actually gain weight. The biggest concern in this case is not the symptoms, but the underlying causes.
Eating disorders are covered under our scope because they largely result from the same factors which cause depression: feelings of being inferior and of not having control. To this end, it is pretty much useless to tell a friend or family member with an eating disorder "you're already thin enough" etc., because they either will not believe it or do not have an eating disorder because of feeling unthin. In the first scenario, the best solution would be to stress the qualities of the person. Show them the impact that the eating disorder is having on their quality of life and ask them whether it is really necessary to maintain what they are doing. Help them plan a healthy lifestyle that does not involve having an eating disorder. In the case of the second, it is the same as with self-harm. Make sure they know that you understand that they don't necessarily want to do this, and that it is understandable that they want control in their lives. However, again show them how controlling their own bodies in this fashion is unfeasible: nobody can change their body type and everyone has a set weight which is unhealthy to deviate from to a large extent. Show them that there are other ways to control their lives without doing harm to themselves.
The bottom line is to let a friend or family member with an eating disorder know that you care about them, and when you see them refuse to eat, vomit right after eating, etc., it hurts you to know that they are doing this to themselves. Make sure they know that you are there for them and will provide support as they go to a healthy meal plan and possibly gain weight. Baby steps are key - recovery will not happen overnight and relapses are sure to occur. At the end of the day, if you can convince them to change, they can and will.
References
Before reading this article, you may have misconceptions about eating disorders. Many of these are common, such as they only happen to athlete girls. While it is true that athletes and girls have a greater risk for developing eating disorders, they can happen to anyone at any time for any reason. Sometimes, an eating disorder can even occur simply because a diet causes someone to lose weight, and they continue losing weight and appetite at an unhealthy rate but do not want to stop.
An eating disorder is a disturbance in eating patterns and related thoughts and emotions. The biggest symptoms for eating disorders are an unhealthy loss of weight and a change in beliefs about food. A big warning sign is when someone simply stops eating, and always says they are not hungry no matter what. They may attribute their symptoms such as headaches or fatigue to some other external factor, even when it is clear that the problem is about simply not eating. Another common eating disorder is bulimia - a person with bulimia will alternately binge on food in large amounts and then purge it through vomiting, laxatives,etc. If someone repeatedly hides after meals, it may be a warning sign for bulimia. A big not about this eating disorder and eating disorders in general is that while weight loss is a symptom, weight loss may not occur. In fact, many with eating disorders actually gain weight. The biggest concern in this case is not the symptoms, but the underlying causes.
Eating disorders are covered under our scope because they largely result from the same factors which cause depression: feelings of being inferior and of not having control. To this end, it is pretty much useless to tell a friend or family member with an eating disorder "you're already thin enough" etc., because they either will not believe it or do not have an eating disorder because of feeling unthin. In the first scenario, the best solution would be to stress the qualities of the person. Show them the impact that the eating disorder is having on their quality of life and ask them whether it is really necessary to maintain what they are doing. Help them plan a healthy lifestyle that does not involve having an eating disorder. In the case of the second, it is the same as with self-harm. Make sure they know that you understand that they don't necessarily want to do this, and that it is understandable that they want control in their lives. However, again show them how controlling their own bodies in this fashion is unfeasible: nobody can change their body type and everyone has a set weight which is unhealthy to deviate from to a large extent. Show them that there are other ways to control their lives without doing harm to themselves.
The bottom line is to let a friend or family member with an eating disorder know that you care about them, and when you see them refuse to eat, vomit right after eating, etc., it hurts you to know that they are doing this to themselves. Make sure they know that you are there for them and will provide support as they go to a healthy meal plan and possibly gain weight. Baby steps are key - recovery will not happen overnight and relapses are sure to occur. At the end of the day, if you can convince them to change, they can and will.
References