Things to Know About Eating Disorders...

This week, I spoke to education students at Meredith College about eating disorders. I love educating people about eating disorders, especially those who will be educating others, working with lots of young men and women, and influencing them in profound ways. I was asked to share what I perceive as the most important things to know about eating disorders. Since I think it's allll important, I had a tough time narrowing down my list, but I chose to address some common myths. There was time alotted for questions at the end, and there were many great questions that allowed me to share even more.


The title of this post may be a little misleading, as I thought I would mention (very briefly) with you just 4 of the key points I shared. 

• Eating disorders are not a choice. You don't choose them, they choose you. But, you do have to choose to recover.
• Eating disorders are not caused by one thing- parents, fashion industry, media. EDs are multifactorial, rooted deeply in genetics, and triggered by environmental, emotional, social, and psychological factors.
• Anorexia Nervosa is the deadliest mental illness; it claims more lives than any other mental illness.
• You cannot tell by looking at someone whether or not they have an eating disorder. Eating disorders do not discriminate- they affect males and females, people of all races and ethnicities, and those of all shapes and sizes. 

For some of you, this might be new information, and for some of you, this may not be. What myths are out there about eating disorders that you want to debunk?