I've read and seen a couple of things online recently about eating disorders and surprisingly "health" articles, and have ended up rolling my eyes at a lot of them. Everyone is so confused about why there is an increase in eating disorders since the pandemic (insert eyeroll here). It's pretty simple:
People haven't been able to move around so they've gained weight.
People have been depressed and have had huge impacts to their mental health - eating disorders are MENTAL (and PS: the worst is yet to come - the 10 year olds of today are not going to be doing so well by the time they're in their 20's).
Here's some background to this post.
A long time ago (when I was a child) I was morbidly obese. I've suffered with various forms of disordered eating which include the following:
Binge eating - eating large amounts of food that you don't need (childhood)
Anorexia - eating very minimal calories (teenage years and on and off through my adult life)
Bulimia - throwing up large amounts of food from a binge (on and off in my life)
EDNOS - eating disorder not otherwise specified (on and off my whole life)
I am not recovered
To be completely honest I don't even think there is such a thing as recovery from an eating disorder. There are far too many issues which stick with you throughout your life. It's not like you can click undo on bad things that have happened to you that have caused your disordered eating. I also haven't been able to find anyone (real life or online) who can say they are TOTALLY recovered, that they have no more thoughts about it, nor have they had for years. I think that recovery in terms of an eating disorder means doing okay....
I am doing okay
Let me define "okay". Okay means that I am maintaining my current healthy weight and that I am physiologically sound. I don't have any medical issues as a result of my eating problems. I obsess sometimes, and other times do not. Sometimes I will have weeks where I don't care and exist as what I believe to be a "normal" person, other times it's a daily struggle to just not hate what I see in the mirror - so I just don't look at it.
Anyone who saw what I look like today would tell me I don't have an eating disorder - that's a bonus because of the stigma surrounding it. I cannot come out and say to any place of work I have an eating disorder - it's classified as a mental health issue and people don't want to employ people like that (even though they claim they won't use it against you - LIARS). Especially in the medical field. The saddest part about it is the incompetence of "doctors" surrounding eating disorders.
Incompetent Medical Practitioners
I've been to nutritionists, psychologists, psychiatrists and regular doctors looking for help since my early 20's because I knew I had a problem. Nothing worked that I tried on my own. I knew I had an unhealthy relationship with food and I wanted to fix it. I walked into the doctor's offices and each time I walked out I was more disordered than when I went in.
I will never forget the day I asked a psychologist for help and turned up at her practice (she was supposed to be a specialist in eating disorders), this is roughly how the conversation went:
Me: Hi, I'm the one that called in because I've been throwing up and I'm worried about what's going on.
Psychologist: Yes, you said you had lost a lot of weight? You look good.
Me (out loud):
Me (in my head): I've just told her that I'm throwing up my food and I have an eating disorder and she's complimented my body. Am I not sick enough for anyone to give a damn? This is why so many people die from eating disorders.
Me (out loud):
Psychologist (after a long awkward silence): So anyway, how often have you been making yourself throw up?
Me: I haven't been making myself throw up. I just eat and then I'm nauseous and I can't keep any food down.
Psychologist: Maybe you have a stomach ulcer or something else wrong. I can send you for scans and give you a referral to a -
Me: No thanks. Goodbye.
And that was the end of it. That was the last time I went to a shrink of any type. I am fortunate to have found a regular doctor who has cared enough to work through all my hassles with me. Even more surprising is the fact that my doctor is a man - I don't say that in a way that men don't understand or aren't affected by eating disorders, I say it because I have always tried to make sure I have a woman doctor. However, he understands the medical principles of eating disorders, but has never had to treat patients for them, nor had any experience with them. If not for his guidance and discussions I think I would probably be in a very bad way. What's better than everything is that he didn't want to slam me onto medication to stop the eating issues. He took his time to talk to me about what causes me to either not eat or throw up.
My formal diagnosis has changed over time. However, the diagnosis to me wasn't and isn't important because at the end of the day the treatment is pretty much the same:
Originally posted here: https://hive.blog/hive-150329/@goodindigene/eating-disorders-and-what-you-need-to-know
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