When the topic of eating disorders are brought up in conversation, the words "sickly, thin, underweight, emaciated, skeleton, etc" are typically only associated with the illness. Images of starved models with piercing collar bones and jutting hip bones chiseled on a pale canvas of a skeleton-like body are the only pictures that show up when one googles "eating disorder". It rarely occurs to the vast majority of people that almost 30% of individuals suffering from life threatening forms of eating disorders are at an average weight or even overweight. Out of 5 eating disorders, Anorexia Nervosa is the ONLY one where the individual suffering drops and maintains a body mass index much lower than that of a healthy person- but in the other 4 (Bulimia Nervosa, EDNOS, Binge Eating Disorder, and Orthorexia) rapid weight loss is not a symptom. In fact, the eating disorders such as Bulimia Nervosa and Binge Eating Disorder, an individual will actually gain weight. Why? Take Bulimia Nervosa for example: Bulimia is the cycle when an individual will binge on large amounts of food and then proceed to purge the food (throw up) due to an overwhelming sensation of guilt. The cycle begins by having low self esteem and a strong desire to lose weight quickly. The individual will attempt to strictly diet, have a small slip up or feel a sensation of extreme hunger, feel ashamed and turn to binge on food as a way to cope with the shame, feel even more guilty from the binge, purge the food, and go back to dieting believing that "tomorrow will be different". And this cycle repeats itself over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over again until one is so helplessly stuck in the deep pits of Bulimia that they ironically resort to it as a coping mechanism rather than a way to lose weight.
There are, however, signs to look for to spot a bulimic: * going to the bathroom frequently after meals * repeated flushing from the bathroom * taking long showers or running the tap for long period of time * overuse of perfume or body spray in the bathroom * a vomit like smell in a bathroom or a person * the Russell signs (calluses or indents on knuckles from scratching against the teeth when purging) * swollen face or salivary glands * puffy redness of the eyes after using the bathroom * yellowing or erosion of the teeth * frequent coughing or complaining of sore throat * consuming extremely large amounts of food at once * obsessive preoccupation with body image * frequent crash dieting * depression, anxiety, social isolation In short, you can never judge whether a person is going through an eating disorder just by looking at them. You don’t have to be “skinny” to have an eating disorder, and you certainly don’t have to be underweight to be in danger of dying from your eating disorder. Help those suffering by looking for the signs and educating others on the misconceptions of eating disorders.
1 Comment
Myra
9/1/2016 01:58:27 am
Thank you for this important post, Mithara. I hope everyone reads this so that they can identify the signs you detailed and keep an eye out for those in need of help--as your post makes clear, it's not people you would always expect or who look how we think people with eating disorders "should" look
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