5 Facts About Eating Disorders

Eating disorders are misunderstood to be extreme displays of a blatant refusal not to eat, obvious purging, and obvious bingeing. With eating disorders, there is always more than meets the eye.

1. Eating Disorders Aren’t Isolated To Diet And Exercise: Instead, eating disorders take over every area of someone’s life. Grades, work, performance, relationships, social interactions, everything changes once the anxiety of an eating disorder takes hold. Needing to feel in control and not face perceived judgments about body image, every facet of life will become a threat and have to be dealt with.
2. Most People With Eating Disorders Struggle With Poor Self-Image: If one felt fine about themselves, their lives, their worth in the world, how they look, and who they are, they might not resort to the harmful behaviors of an eating disorder. When someone is comfortable and confident in who they are, they don’t have to control or hurt themselves to be something else or satisfy a misconception with eating disorder behavior.
3. Eating Disorders Aren’t Obvious: Diet and wellness trends which become “obsessive”, as in “I’m so obsessed with this new diet” or “I’m so obsessed with this new workout program” could be masking a real and potentially life threatening obsession with food, exercise, and body image. Additionally, when someone “looks healthy” because of their diet and exercise routine, they may not really be healthy. A low BMI, for example, might not indicate good health practices but harmful ones. Size, body fat, image, and dietary restrictions aren’t always obvious indicators of an eating disorder.
4. Without A Doubt, Eating Disorders Are Fatal: Families of loved one’s with eating disorders have fretted for a long time that when their beloved passed away, their death certificate said nothing of their eating disorder. It might have said malnourishment, heart failure, or sudden death with causes unknown. Yet, family members know that it was the side effects of an eating disorder. Chronic or even intermittent eating disorder behaviors weaken the heart, can cause damage to the organs, and restrict the essential vitamins and nutrients the brain needs to function.
5. Denial Is A Big Part Of Eating Disorders: Confronting an eating disorder can be like confronting an addiction: it is met with denial. For someone who has come to rely upon their habits, confronting them could mean they are taken away. Without their disordered behavior, they might lose control, have to confront a painful past, or reckon with themselves.

Eating disorder treatment has a high rate of success when the treatment is effective. Avalon Malibu provides trusted programs which help clients heal mind, body, and spirit. As one of California’s leading primary mental health treatment facilities, we are able to provide the clinical care needed for full recovery. For a confidential assessment, call us today for more information at 1 888-958-7511.