Eating Disorders Awareness Week is a campaign intended to raise awareness and provide reliable information, resources and hope for those impacted by the condition. We sat down with Laura Oyer, PhD, psychologist, and Jennifer Barney, MS, psychology resident, Eating Disorder Program, Parkview Behavioral Health Institute, to get their perspective on the factors that fuel our complicated relationship with food, and where people can turn when they’re ready to get help.
Defining eating disorders
Eating is on a continuum; intuitive eating on one end, disordered eating is toward the other end and eating disorders is on the far other end of the spectrum. It’s common for people to occasionally engage in disordered eating, such as overdoing it at a holiday gathering. But when we start to see frequent behaviors like not eating enough, eating too much or eating and then doing something to get rid of the food, such as exercise or vomiting, we would consider evaluating for an eating disorder diagnosis. In addition to frequency, we consider the negative impairments these behaviors have on a person’s social, mental and physical health. These are all facets we consider when exploring treatment.
Signs
While some of the more obvious signs surface around food and eating, there are some less obvious signs of an eating disorder. These include obsessing about food in their thoughts or talking about food excessively, becoming socially withdrawn, avoiding events with food or the food at the event, isolating, or feelings of anxiety or depression, which can be the result of not eating enough. We also see physical symptoms like GI distress, stomach aches, irritable bowels, and dry or cracked skin, fingernails or lips, which are signs of malnourishment. If the individual is purging, they might also develop calluses on their knuckles.
Contributing factors and misconceptions
A lot of people express that they feel controlled by the eating disorder. We know that there are a number of complicated biological, social and psychological factors at play with these conditions, and they aren’t something you can choose to be in or out of.
There’s this myth that eating disorders look a certain way and only affect a certain demographic, but they can impact anyone in any body at any age, with any cultural or ethnic background, across the gender spectrum. You can’t tell by looking at someone whether or not they have an eating disorder.
We also know that a person’s BMI doesn’t have anything to do with whether or not they have an eating disorder. It’s about how much their habits are impacting and distressing them and their overall health, rather than the size of their body.
Diet culture, or this idea that certain body types are more respected, healthy or attractive, and the belief that we should be able to “control” our food intake and exercise to reach this ideal shape are major contributing factors when we talk about eating disorders. Social media and the beauty industry give ideal versions of what bodies should or could look like that simply aren’t realistic for everyone. On top of that, our culture praises disordered eating behaviors and the outcomes that result, which makes it very confusing to the person who is struggling with food.
Treatment
The shame and stigma around seeking help for eating disorders often means that people avoid treatment for a long time. Some struggle for years or decades with symptoms, which then makes it harder to break these engrained habits.
But there is hope. If you or a loved one is struggling with an eating disorder, reach out for help. You don’t have to continue suffering alone. Recovery is possible.
At Parkview Behavioral Health Institute, we specialize in IOP group therapy and outpatient levels of care. Our eating disorder program utilizes an interdisciplinary treatment approach, collaborating with dietitians, medical providers, psychiatrists and skills coaches at all levels of care. To get started, patients can call 260-481-2700 and request an assessment to begin eating disorder treatment. A physician referral is not needed for any of our programs, but IOP requires prior authorization from insurance, which is handled by Parkview’s team.
