Post by MultipleMinds on Nov 26, 2013 16:09:29 GMT -5
Myth: You can tell if someone has an eating disorder simply by looking at them
Fact: Individuals with eating disorders come in all shapes and sizes. Many times, the media and other public discussions about eating disorders focus solely on individuals with a diagnosis of anorexia who are severely emaciated. In reality, many individuals with anorexia may not ever appear so drastically underweight. Furthermore, many individuals with severe disorders including bulimia, binge eating, and EDNOS can be underweight, normal weight, overweight or obese and often fluctuate in weight. Even athletes who appear to be incredibly fit might be struggling with an eating disorder. The bottom line is that you cannot define someone’s health by how much they weigh and you cannot determine whether they have an eating disorder just by looking at them.
Myth: Eating Disorders are caused by Photoshopped images in the media
Fact: Many people are exposed to the media and altered images on a daily basis but only a small percentage of them actually develop eating disorders. Eating Disorders are serious illnesses that have biological, genetic and psychological underpinnings. Sociocultural messages about weight and beauty (including photoshopped images) can certainly impact a person’s body image and stimulate pressures to look a certain way, but they cannot cause an eating disorder.
Myth: Men don’t get eating disorders
Fact: At least 1 out of every 10 people with an eating disorder is male. In fact, within certain diagnostic categories like Binge Eating Disorder, men represent as many as 40% of those affected. In a recently released report from the American Academy of Pediatrics, boys and men were cited as one of the groups seeing the fastest rise in eating disorders over the past 10 years along with 8-12 year olds and ethnic minorities. It’s equally important to screen for eating disorders among females and males.
Myth: Only people of high socioeconomic status get eating disorders
Fact: People in all socioeconomic levels have eating disorders. The disorders have been identified across all socioeconomic groups, age groups, both sexes, and in many countries in Europe, Asia, Africa, and North and South America. (source: NEDA)
Myth: Eating Disorders are a lifestyle choice; someone can choose to stop having an eating disorder.
Fact: Eating disorders are serious illnesses with mental and physical consequences that often involve a great deal of suffering. Someone can make the choice to pursue recovery, but the act of recovery itself is a lot of hard work and involves more than simply deciding to not act on symptoms. In most cases, the eating disorder has become a person’s primary way of coping with intense emotions and difficult life events. In order to heal from the eating disorder, a person needs appropriate treatment and support regarding medical monitoring, nutritional rehabilitation as well as learning and practicing healthier ways to manage stress.
Myth: Purging is an effective way to lose weight.
Fact: Purging does not result in ridding the body of ingested food. At least half of what is consumed during a binge typically remains in the body even after self-induced vomiting. It’s important to know that laxatives do not prevent the body from absorbing calories either because they impact the large intestine and most calories are absorbed in the small intestine. Laxatives may provide an illusion of weight loss because they stimulate a temporary loss of fluids from the body which can lead to dehydration. Purging does not cause weight loss, nor does it prevent weight gain. In fact, over time, the binge/purge cycle can actually contribute to increased or accelerated weight gain as it affects the body’s metabolic rate. For these reasons, many people with bulimia are average or above-average weight.
Myth: Eating Disorders are a result of over controlling parents and dysfunctional families.
Fact: In the past, parents were often blamed for an individual’s eating disorder but new research and conventional wisdom have helped to dispel this myth. Families affected by eating disorders are very diverse. We now know that between 50-80% of a person’s risk for developing an eating disorder is due to genetic factors. We also know that parents and families can play an integral role in helping a loved one recover. For this reason family therapy is a primary therapeutic modality used for adolescents and is also strongly encouraged for adults.
Myth: Anorexia is the only life threatening eating disorder.
Fact: Eating Disorders in general have the highest mortality rate of any mental illness. Recent research has expanded our knowledge about the risks associated with each of the specific diagnoses.
The research (Crow, S., et al. 2009) showed mortality rates for bulimia and EDNOS that were similar to, and higher, than those for anorexia. Bulimia had a 3.9% mortality rate and EDNOS had a 5.2% mortality rate while anorexia had a 4.0% rate. These numbers were based on a study of individuals seeking outpatient services. Without treatment, it’s suspected that as many as 20% individuals will die as a result of their illness. Even for patients whose eating disorders don't prove fatal, there are often severe medical complications associated with starvation and purging, including bone disease, cardiac complications, gastrointestinal distress, and infertility.
Myth: Recovery from eating disorders is rare.
Fact: Recovery, though challenging, is absolutely possible. Recovery can take months or years, but with treatment, many people do eventually recover and go on to live a life free from their eating disorder.
Myth: Getting better is just a question of eating.
Fact: Eating disorders are not only about food, however, unless a patient develops healthy eating habits and to a minimal healthy weight, recovery is impossible. Therefore, a focus on eating and achieving a healthy weight is essential to the initial phase of treatment. Psychologically based therapy is of little value when a patient’s brain and mind are malnourished. As one recovered patient noted, “eating normally combined with maintaining a healthy weight is not the solution to your problems, but you cannot solve your problems without this occurring first.” Healthy eating and weight are a necessary, but not sufficient, element for recovery.
Myth: To avoid conflict, parents should let their child with an eating disorder eat as much or as little that she/he wants, wherever, whenever and whatever the cost.
Fact: Parents often feel “terrorized” by their child’s eating disorder and are afraid that setting limits, ensuring proper intake of food and beverage, or disciplining in any way might cause the eating disorder to get even more out-of-control. As a result they lose confidence in their competence to be effective parents. This situation is not helpful for the child with the eating disorder, any siblings, others living in the house, or for the relationship between the parents. Eating disorders are often called “diseases of disconnection” because they disrupt the relationships of the affected individual with themselves, their parents, other family members, friends and loved ones.
Myth: Eating disorders are just an adolescent “phase”, so they should be ignored and they will go away on their own.
Fact: Eating disorders generally begin during teenage years as a means to cope with normal developmental tasks like identity formation and/or establishing independence. Effective, targeted treatment is more likely to result in recovery than ignoring the unhealthy habit and waiting for spontaneous resolution.
Myth: People with eating disorders are cured after inpatient treatment.
Fact: Individuals who require hospitalization receive relatively short-term intensive treatment focused on several areas including medical problems, nutrition, weight restoration, psychological and social counseling. Because most inpatient programs are time-limited, hospitalization represents an intensification of treatment that is followed by less intensive treatment in a residential treatment facility, partial hospital program, or outpatient clinic. Thus, hospitalization is often the beginning of a long-term treatment plan and should not be expected to result immediately in the absence of an eating disorder following discharge.
Myth: Eating disorders are a matter of vanity or a way to get attention.
Fact: In her book The Art of Starvation, Sheila MacLeod notes that “dieting is a matter of vanity, but anorexia nervosa is a matter of pride”, with most patients hiding their bodies under bulky or baggy clothes because they feel fat. In the early phase of weight loss due to an eating disorder, there may be positive attention with comments from others about looking “better”, but as the illness progress, the attention becomes more negative and unwanted.
Myth: People with eating disorders are trying to punish their parents or other loved ones.
Fact: Just as no one chooses to get an eating disorder, rarely are the behaviors spiteful or intentionally hurtful to others. Parents often feel hurt, embarrassed, guilty and blame themselves for their child developing an eating disorder, but these sentiments are never productive with respect to recovery.
Fact: Individuals with eating disorders come in all shapes and sizes. Many times, the media and other public discussions about eating disorders focus solely on individuals with a diagnosis of anorexia who are severely emaciated. In reality, many individuals with anorexia may not ever appear so drastically underweight. Furthermore, many individuals with severe disorders including bulimia, binge eating, and EDNOS can be underweight, normal weight, overweight or obese and often fluctuate in weight. Even athletes who appear to be incredibly fit might be struggling with an eating disorder. The bottom line is that you cannot define someone’s health by how much they weigh and you cannot determine whether they have an eating disorder just by looking at them.
Myth: Eating Disorders are caused by Photoshopped images in the media
Fact: Many people are exposed to the media and altered images on a daily basis but only a small percentage of them actually develop eating disorders. Eating Disorders are serious illnesses that have biological, genetic and psychological underpinnings. Sociocultural messages about weight and beauty (including photoshopped images) can certainly impact a person’s body image and stimulate pressures to look a certain way, but they cannot cause an eating disorder.
Myth: Men don’t get eating disorders
Fact: At least 1 out of every 10 people with an eating disorder is male. In fact, within certain diagnostic categories like Binge Eating Disorder, men represent as many as 40% of those affected. In a recently released report from the American Academy of Pediatrics, boys and men were cited as one of the groups seeing the fastest rise in eating disorders over the past 10 years along with 8-12 year olds and ethnic minorities. It’s equally important to screen for eating disorders among females and males.
Myth: Only people of high socioeconomic status get eating disorders
Fact: People in all socioeconomic levels have eating disorders. The disorders have been identified across all socioeconomic groups, age groups, both sexes, and in many countries in Europe, Asia, Africa, and North and South America. (source: NEDA)
Myth: Eating Disorders are a lifestyle choice; someone can choose to stop having an eating disorder.
Fact: Eating disorders are serious illnesses with mental and physical consequences that often involve a great deal of suffering. Someone can make the choice to pursue recovery, but the act of recovery itself is a lot of hard work and involves more than simply deciding to not act on symptoms. In most cases, the eating disorder has become a person’s primary way of coping with intense emotions and difficult life events. In order to heal from the eating disorder, a person needs appropriate treatment and support regarding medical monitoring, nutritional rehabilitation as well as learning and practicing healthier ways to manage stress.
Myth: Purging is an effective way to lose weight.
Fact: Purging does not result in ridding the body of ingested food. At least half of what is consumed during a binge typically remains in the body even after self-induced vomiting. It’s important to know that laxatives do not prevent the body from absorbing calories either because they impact the large intestine and most calories are absorbed in the small intestine. Laxatives may provide an illusion of weight loss because they stimulate a temporary loss of fluids from the body which can lead to dehydration. Purging does not cause weight loss, nor does it prevent weight gain. In fact, over time, the binge/purge cycle can actually contribute to increased or accelerated weight gain as it affects the body’s metabolic rate. For these reasons, many people with bulimia are average or above-average weight.
Myth: Eating Disorders are a result of over controlling parents and dysfunctional families.
Fact: In the past, parents were often blamed for an individual’s eating disorder but new research and conventional wisdom have helped to dispel this myth. Families affected by eating disorders are very diverse. We now know that between 50-80% of a person’s risk for developing an eating disorder is due to genetic factors. We also know that parents and families can play an integral role in helping a loved one recover. For this reason family therapy is a primary therapeutic modality used for adolescents and is also strongly encouraged for adults.
Myth: Anorexia is the only life threatening eating disorder.
Fact: Eating Disorders in general have the highest mortality rate of any mental illness. Recent research has expanded our knowledge about the risks associated with each of the specific diagnoses.
The research (Crow, S., et al. 2009) showed mortality rates for bulimia and EDNOS that were similar to, and higher, than those for anorexia. Bulimia had a 3.9% mortality rate and EDNOS had a 5.2% mortality rate while anorexia had a 4.0% rate. These numbers were based on a study of individuals seeking outpatient services. Without treatment, it’s suspected that as many as 20% individuals will die as a result of their illness. Even for patients whose eating disorders don't prove fatal, there are often severe medical complications associated with starvation and purging, including bone disease, cardiac complications, gastrointestinal distress, and infertility.
Myth: Recovery from eating disorders is rare.
Fact: Recovery, though challenging, is absolutely possible. Recovery can take months or years, but with treatment, many people do eventually recover and go on to live a life free from their eating disorder.
Myth: Getting better is just a question of eating.
Fact: Eating disorders are not only about food, however, unless a patient develops healthy eating habits and to a minimal healthy weight, recovery is impossible. Therefore, a focus on eating and achieving a healthy weight is essential to the initial phase of treatment. Psychologically based therapy is of little value when a patient’s brain and mind are malnourished. As one recovered patient noted, “eating normally combined with maintaining a healthy weight is not the solution to your problems, but you cannot solve your problems without this occurring first.” Healthy eating and weight are a necessary, but not sufficient, element for recovery.
Myth: To avoid conflict, parents should let their child with an eating disorder eat as much or as little that she/he wants, wherever, whenever and whatever the cost.
Fact: Parents often feel “terrorized” by their child’s eating disorder and are afraid that setting limits, ensuring proper intake of food and beverage, or disciplining in any way might cause the eating disorder to get even more out-of-control. As a result they lose confidence in their competence to be effective parents. This situation is not helpful for the child with the eating disorder, any siblings, others living in the house, or for the relationship between the parents. Eating disorders are often called “diseases of disconnection” because they disrupt the relationships of the affected individual with themselves, their parents, other family members, friends and loved ones.
Myth: Eating disorders are just an adolescent “phase”, so they should be ignored and they will go away on their own.
Fact: Eating disorders generally begin during teenage years as a means to cope with normal developmental tasks like identity formation and/or establishing independence. Effective, targeted treatment is more likely to result in recovery than ignoring the unhealthy habit and waiting for spontaneous resolution.
Myth: People with eating disorders are cured after inpatient treatment.
Fact: Individuals who require hospitalization receive relatively short-term intensive treatment focused on several areas including medical problems, nutrition, weight restoration, psychological and social counseling. Because most inpatient programs are time-limited, hospitalization represents an intensification of treatment that is followed by less intensive treatment in a residential treatment facility, partial hospital program, or outpatient clinic. Thus, hospitalization is often the beginning of a long-term treatment plan and should not be expected to result immediately in the absence of an eating disorder following discharge.
Myth: Eating disorders are a matter of vanity or a way to get attention.
Fact: In her book The Art of Starvation, Sheila MacLeod notes that “dieting is a matter of vanity, but anorexia nervosa is a matter of pride”, with most patients hiding their bodies under bulky or baggy clothes because they feel fat. In the early phase of weight loss due to an eating disorder, there may be positive attention with comments from others about looking “better”, but as the illness progress, the attention becomes more negative and unwanted.
Myth: People with eating disorders are trying to punish their parents or other loved ones.
Fact: Just as no one chooses to get an eating disorder, rarely are the behaviors spiteful or intentionally hurtful to others. Parents often feel hurt, embarrassed, guilty and blame themselves for their child developing an eating disorder, but these sentiments are never productive with respect to recovery.
