The stigma that every person with an eating disorder is a white middle class girl with threshold anorexia (restrictive subtype more specifically, vomit is too icky to talk about for most unless itâs bulimia but itâs just an afterthought)
Even if you fall into that demographic, you still should be taken seriously because anorexia is deadly
Lower income households are more likely to suffer from binge eating disorder
On the topic of race, anyone from any race can have an eating disorder
Disordered eating does NOT mean eating disorder, many people are pathological dieters but donât have an ED
Confusing the two means that people think diet = ED but itâs not that simple
The genuine fear of realizing you canât shit without some kind of stimulant whether it be laxatives or caffeine or something else
You can abuse laxatives to the point that your ass essentially atrophies and you need to remove it and replace it with a bag that fills with waste outside your body that you have to dump
You can be freezing, lose hair, pass out, have heart palpitations, and many other health consequences and NOT be anywhere NEAR underweight. You can be obese and have the same physical consequences of malnutrition as someone who is a threshold anorexic if you restrict
Self harming because of calories and weight gain
Sometimes itâs âvanityâ or the quest to adhere to beauty standards that causes eating disorders, especially in the west, but people forget that it can also be a desire for control, can be triggered by trauma, a divorce or break up, a major rejection, pregnancy, bullying, geneticsâitâs not always âI want to feel prettyâ and even if it is, itâs just as serious
âBut the starving children in Africa!!1!1!!â The guilt of eating overrides the guilt of ungratefulness, youâre not helping
Eating disorder rituals and thoughts are similar to OCD. The two disorders are actually highly co-morbid. Hence why the whole âjust eatâ doesnât work. Itâs like saying to an OCD sufferer who compulsively washes their hands to âjust stop washing your handsâ
If you have an eating disorder, you likely have other mental health problems
Itâs not like the movies where you become anorexic and then get tube fed and recover and are fine. Very few people get tube fed and there are very limited treatment centres, and limited beds. By the time they consider admitting you into residential or inpatient, it could be too late. Not to mention the fact that your insurance can run out.
MANY people cross-over between eating disorders, often multiple times. (Example: you can swap anorexia for BED or bulimia for atypical anorexia, etc etc)
Your social life, self-image, family, school and work, and pretty much every single area of life is negatively impacted
If you have an eating disorder (especially anorexia or atypical anorexia) when youâre younger, you CAN ACTUALLY stunt your growthâand Iâm living proof, because I did. I should be at least an inch taller.
Binging and starving cycles are the WORST and so painful because you feel powerless if youâre starving and powerless if youâre binging
Purging isnât limited to vomiting: other compensatory methods include over-exercising, abusing laxatives and diuretics, as well as abusing other medications
Lying to your doctors is common
Flying under the radar because you donât look sick enough and then one day your heart gives out and everyone wonders why youâre dead until the autopsy reveals your insides were a mess and we donât talk about this enough
OSFED makes up 38% of all eating disorders, and includes atypical anorexia, short duration or low frequency bulimia/BED, night feeding syndrome, and purging disorder AND THEYRE JUST AS DANGEROUS AND EQUALLY SERIOUS. Used to be EDNOS. Itâs not all anorexia/bulimia/BED, as was pointed out above.
Non-fatal car crashes can kill people with EDs because our hearts and bodies arenât strong enough to withstand the impact that an otherwise healthy person could get through with a few bruises or fractures
THOUSANDS of dollars going towards fixing the damage you do to your body that could be used for school, rent, retirement savings, etc etc etc. (Do you still think itâs a choice???)
Also money going towards buying binge foods. Food can be very expensive, especially if you buy it in very large quantities. People drain their accounts and go into credit card debt because of binge eating.
MEN HAVE EATING DISORDERS TOO
Gay men and bisexual men/women are more likely to have an eating disorder compared to straight men/women and lesbians
Dropping out of school (I almost got kicked out of university because my grades plummeted, and my ED was a big part)
