Celebrating Our Natural Sizes, Part II… plus on-line support groups!
And they rise in the morning
And they sleep in the dark
And even though nobody’s looking
She’s falling apart- She’s Falling Apart by Lisa Loeb (Youtube)
This week, let’s take a step back and see what it is we mean by “eating disorder“.
Food is an important part of our lives… necessary, even. Even though we all need different amounts, one thing we agree on is that we can’t survive for long without it. What’s more, since it’s something you pretty much have to do every day, it’s a big part of life in general; Ads for food and restaurants are everywhere, families and communities very eat together on a regular basis, and almost every home in the world has a whole room dedicated to food: the kitchen.
Despite that importance (or maybe because of it!), sometimes people will change the way they eat in harmful ways in order to deal with or control difficult feelings. In a life where everything else seems out of control, what and when someone eats might be the only thing they feel that they have power over. And while they may be talking about their appearance and weight, eating disorders can run deep into your feelings and aren’t just about food, aren’t just about “losing two more pounds”… they’re serious illnesses that can affect every part of a person’s life.
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And you can get help. The sooner you do, the better the chances for recovery – but nobody is beyond hope. Eating disorders can feel like they’re your whole life, but they’re not… they’re an illness, one that can be worked on. There’s a whole person, the real you, that’s buried underneath it and all its symptoms.
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Speaking of symptoms, here are things someone might do or have as part of an eating disorder.
- Profound fear of gaining weight or being “fat”
- Heavily restricting eating to maintain a low body weight
- Excessive exercising
- “Binging” – eating large amounts of food in a short time
- “Purging” – vomiting or taking laxatives in order to get rid of food
- Unrealistic ideas about body weight and body shape
If you see yourself (or someone you know) in that list, please consider talking to someone about it. A doctor or nurse that you trust would be a great place to start in getting help. Or come talk to us.
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Links:
- Read our other entry on Celebrating Our Natural Sizes, and try the Real Me Experience, a series of surveys and quizzes to help reflect on yourself, your self-esteem and body image.
- Looking Glass Foundation for Eating Disorders here in Vancouver just started a series of on-line support groups: Mondays for Family & Friends, Wednesdays for Adults and Thursdays for Adolescents, weekly at 7:30pm pacific time. Click here to learn more about it and/or register.
- Check out beat, the web site of the Eating Disorders Association based in the U.K. The site has tons of information about ED, as well as tips for how to get help (and navigate the health care system!) and exercises you can do yourself. For those of you in the UK, they also operate message boards, a live chat and telephone help lines.
