Eating Disorders / Disordered Eating Habits – Awareness

@theriverissinging That people with Ed cannot be helped.

When in fact they can be helped.

One myth.. that you have to be underweight to have an ed.. this is obviously not true ..

I did a search on eating disorder myths and learned some important facts. So, thank you for making this thread. I learned something to day. Here's one myth that I thought was important to debunk:

It’s just an eating disorder. That can’t be a big deal.

Eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of any psychiatric illness. Up to 20% of individuals with chronic anorexia nervosa will die as a result of their illness. Community studies of anorexia, bulimia, and eating disorder not otherwise specified (EDNOS, now called OSFED) show that all eating disorders have similar mortality rates. Besides medical complications from binge eating, purging, starvation, and over-exercise, suicide is also common among individuals with eating disorders. People who struggle with eating disorders also have a severely impacted quality of life.

This is the link to the page I found this on. Lots of myths debunked there if anyone wants to read more from this source:

https://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/toolkit/parent-toolkit/eating-disorder-myths

@theriverissinging

Hi River! 😊❤️ Thank you for the amazing forum post!

While I do not suffer and have never suffered from an E.D., I feel as if I may have a valuable resource to contribute if anyone would like. A great read, all across the board could be "What Do You See When You Look In the Mirror" by Thomas F. Cash, Ph.D. It's about helping yourself to a positive body image.

This Dr. is quite prolific in the area of body image and has been hired by many a corporation to complete studies and run test subjects in regard to testing the viability of products for consumers.

I have read the book and in fact I worked hand in hand with this Dr. to complete my Masters Thesis. Our study, that we did in conjunction, was in the area of body dysmorphic disorder and this is someone that is quite well versed. He and I are published authors together in that realm. Quite pleased to have his name right next to mine in the world of Psychology!

Happy reading if you choose to do so!

*high fives* 😊 and big *hugs* ❤️

@theriverissinging that EDs do not discriminate against gender or age

That it has to be bad enough for you to seek help...
Remember the sooner you recognise your food patterns are unhealthy and the sooner you are able to reach out, the better you recover. You are valid, you don't need it to get worse to start working on it and/or seek help.

That only girls have anorexia