What You Don't See: Eating Disorders

When people hear the term, “eating disorder,” often, uncomfortable looks are shared and everyone does their best to avoid glancing at each other’s torsos. The very same people later that day may also wonder why eating disorders are never talked about. The stigma with eating disorders can be heavily misconstrued while the battles that go on with eating disorders are commonly unknown. Many people forget that eating disorders are a mental illness, the physical aspects are just symptoms.

Eating disorders, among many other topics, need to be discussed more. That’s why we decided to interview Brooke Cockson and Aimee Johnson, two experts at the Eating Disorder Center of Montana (EDCMT) about their thoughts on this mental illness. We also had the opportunity to speak with an anonymous interviewee and gain insight into how they struggle with an eating disorder.

Cockson and Johnson shared their first thoughts; that to properly address eating disorders, it is essential to recognize the wide array of disorders amongst individuals. Common stereotypes surrounding eating disorders are that the main ‘victims’ of these illnesses are white, young females. Yet more often than not, the most common eating disorders appear amongst more stigmatized demographics. For example, Johnson explained that there is a religious stigma around eating disorders. The, “Religious stigma is if you are raised religious, you should just seek help through that religion rather than seeking mental health care.” Additionally, men throughout history have been built up by an idea to be strong, powerful, and confident in themselves. Because of this stereotype, many men feel like they need to hide their insecurities, therefore, eating disorders are not mentioned so much amongst the male demographic. However, this does not make them any less prevalent. According to Cockson, “Females also tend to seek care more than males do. So even if [males] are struggling, they may not seek out care as often.”

A recurring stereotype is also found within age. People affected have a wide range of ages, and while most commonly eating disorders appear amongst teenagers, Cockson mentions, “We honestly see eating disorders all the way from five years old, up into really the end of life.”

According to the EDCMT themselves, it is statistically proven that “25% of female college athletes have disordered eating behaviors.” What's even scarier is that there are about 10,200 deaths directly linked to eating disorders every year. “That's one death every 52 minutes.” Eating disorders are one of the most severe internal threats to teenagers, yet the topic more often than not goes entirely unaddressed. To really crack down on why this is, we interviewed an anonymous individual about their thoughts and experiences with an eating disorder.

While asked about how they developed their eating disorder, our anonymous interviewee said, “[It] definitely [was] not random, I don’t think any eating disorder is ever random.” Coping with an eating disorder is a battle many people don’t understand, “I have really good days where I’m super motivated to kick my eating disorder in its face and other days that I get really tired of trying to push myself with food and eat something.”  with an eating disorder is ever linear. Anonymous mentions, “I had days that were the most consistent where I would eat a good breakfast and dinner, maybe even lunch, but I couldn’t stop listing everything I’ve eaten throughout the day,” This relates back to how eating disorders’ struggles are a mental illness, not everything about them is purely physical.

Another myth about EDs is how you know when to get help. Anonymous answers, “Many people think you just know when you have one. But I never had an ‘ah-ha’ moment” For many, they start with smaller habits connected to eating disorders that slowly build over time. “I was in denial for a long time, just brushing off my behaviors as something everyone does or telling myself it wasn’t that serious, but it was serious, and I felt alone.” Eating disorders are an isolating illness, and stereotypes play a huge part into the stress that comes with them.

Some signs to watch out for in people with EDs include habitual processes, such as avoiding the topic of food at all costs, or even doing the direct opposite and compulsively providing food for others, such as through cooking or baking, yet not necessarily consuming the food themselves. Along with this, Cockson, a professional dietitian added, “If there's someone that can't hang out for a social event, maybe because they have to exercise, that can be a sign. Maybe if they put that exercise before anything, I think we see this a lot here in Bozeman, having to go to the gym after spending all day on the ski hill.” It can feel awkward bridging that gap between making assumptions and taking action, but it’s always important to be taking any precautions necessary to prevent an eating disorder from evolving any further.

On the flip side, other than looking out for others it’s imperative to look out for yourself. A common occurrence with some people with eating disorders is feeling like you're not sick enough to get help. Because of this, we asked for ideas from the EDC of something that you can do for yourself or for a friend to encourage them to seek help. In response, Johnson and Cockson admitted it’s a hard thing to do, because you can’t force anyone to do anything. “People are not always going to get help. They don't want to, and that's just the crux of it. But I would say, going back to that support piece of just asking how can we support you in this right now?” Additionally, asking, “‘What do you think the next step is’ and really involving the other person. I think people do better when they're involved instead of being told [what to do].” 

Another important topic of conversation is to give specific advice/locations for people to seek help rather than simply suggesting they figure it out. Saying things like, “‘Hey, I know that there's an Eating Disorder Center here, what if you just did an intake interview, just to see what your options are?’ Or something like that. Depending on the severity, however, if there’s somebody that's so severe they're having pretty extreme physical symptoms, suggesting something like, ‘Hey, let's get you to the hospital.’” would be beneficial.

To show more of a scale of how deeply eating disorders impact society, Johnson and Cockson displayed some statistics depicting shocking numbers. 41% of Montana High schoolers are actively trying to lose weight. 6% of people with eating disorders are clinically considered malnourished, so “The majority of our clients don't necessarily look like they have an eating disorder.” Additionally, 9% of the US population will have an eating disorder in their lifetime. Eating disorders have the second highest mortality rate of all mental health disorders, surpassed only by opioid addiction. And 25% of people with anorexia nervosa are made up of one male population.

In an attempt to break through the barrier of ignoring the problem and trying to wait it out, we asked Cockson and Johnson: “If there is someone you might think has an eating disorder, how can you offer help?” Johnson replied, “I think first of all, definitely recommending that they seek treatment from professionals. Because eating disorders are really complex illnesses. So making sure that they have a team of people who know what they're doing and how to treat it. But also being kind of a safe space, and not focusing on body or food, but steering conversations away from those topics.” Cockson concluded by adding, “Also, just asking them how they can be supported; how can I support you in this, and seeing what they need from you as a friend or family member, or whatever the case may be.”

Whether you struggle with your eating habits, feel alone because of them, or invalidate yourself, please remember you matter and there is something better out there for you. And if you don’t struggle with habits or the mentality of an eating disorder, look out for your friends and family that do, just telling them you see them and are here for them goes a long way. There are helplines listed down below for extra support.

Eating Disorder Center of Montana - (406) 451-7370

National Eating Disorder Association - (212) 575-6200

Crisis Lifeline - 988