“What are you talking about that you’re fat? You look so anorexic.” My ears perked up as I overheard one high school girl telling her friend this while riding the Q64. My instinct was to go over to her and lecture her on the usage of that word, tell her that “anorexic” is not a synonym for “skinny,” that it is
a serious disorder with the highest mortality rate out of any mental illness. But I held my tongue, mostly because I didn’t want to cause a scene on the bus.

 

I can raise awareness of the issue here, though.

 

February is National Eating Disorders Awareness, the month during which I annually grace my friends with a Facebook status detailing my own struggle with an eating disorder in high school, post important facts and statistics about the issue, and urge them to raise awareness too.

 

Unfortunately, like the case is with nearly all mental illnesses, there is a huge stigma attached to eating disorders. They are seen as a primarily white, middle-class, female, adolescent problem. Sometimes people will call them a “phase,” an “attention-seeking method,” or a “diet technique gone wrong.” But eating disorders have been proven to be mental illnesses with biological, genetic, and psychiatric roots. And there are no bounds with whom it can affect. In my own experience in what I like to call the “treatment cycle”, I’ve encountered people of all ages, ethnicities, weights, genders, sexualities, and socioeconomic classes who suffer from eating disorders.

 

In fact, according to research, there is no correlation between the diagnosis of an eating disorder and any of the aforementioned factors. The reason we see larger numbers of certain groups with the diagnosis is because people who can afford treatment (which, if not covered by insurance, costs a lot) are the ones who end up being the “face” of the illness. But hell guys, illness doesn’t discriminate!

 

When you think about someone with an eating disorder, you probably picture an emaciated body. But that stereotype is wrong too. Someone does not have to appear emaciated, or even underweight, to suffer from one of the many types of eating disorders. In fact, many people who are extremely sick and are at risk of dying because of the effects of an eating disorder appear to be at a healthy weight or even overweight.

 

As a friend of mine put it, “What’s important here is understanding that there is no “look” to an eating disorder. Anyone can have this severe illness, regardless of how they appear. Not everyone fits the stereotype and that’s important in raising awareness of the issue.”

 

Last point on awareness: Eating disorders are not just about losing weight. They are about a variety of things, varying from using weight loss to gain a sense of control to subduing an existing anxiety, but the reasons behind the development of the illness differ from person to person. Eating disorders are usually accompanied by severe depression and/or general anxiety disorder, or other psychiatric diagnoses, so treatment involves psychiatric, therapeutic, and medical aspects.

 

So the question is: How can you get involved in spreading awareness this February?

 

Post a Facebook status. Tweet some statistics. Reach out to your friends and tell them how beautiful they are. Get involved in a cause like Sock it to ED or start your own awareness campaign. Erasing the stigma and enabling it to be an issue that people, especially those who might not fit the “eating disorder stereotype,” can reach out about and receive help for is the most important way you can be involved in the fight against eating disorders this month.

 

A friend of mine, recently hospitalized for an eating disorder, told me what awareness means to her. She said, “To me, awareness is so important because even with how common eating disorders are, there are a huge number of people who don’t truly understand that they are more than a diet. Eating disorders kill, and early intervention and awareness is so important because it really can save a life!”

 

So if you or someone you know is struggling, you should reach out to a trusted doctor right away. You really can save someone’s life with early intervention for an eating disorder. Treatment is a long and hard journey, but from my own experience and the experience of friends, I know it’s worth it.

 

Some resources you can check out to receive more facts on eating disorders and eating disorder treatment are the NEDA website and the ANAD website.

 

And please, don’t ever call your friends “so anorexic.”

 

If you have any questions or comments on eating disorders, awareness month, or mental health awareness in general, feel free to leave them in the comment section below.