Eating
Disorders: A Silent
Killer
Eating disorders are a mental illness that is extremely prevalent in the
society today. It’s more dangerous than a regular illness because unlike other
diseases, eating disorders are brought on by oneself. It’s an act of self-harm,
but in the person’s mind it becomes so twisted that they actually think they
are helping themselves and are in control of their lives. Having gone through
an eating disorder myself, I can relate to others who are or have experienced
this illness. It’s much more than just self-harm in a physical form, but eating
disorders affect every aspect of your life... social, physical, emotional,
mental, and even spiritual. You give yourself a false sense of control and
security when in actuality you are falling apart and more often than not, the
person going through an eating disorder knows this. Here are some statistics
that I found about eating disorders:
PREVALENCE
·
It is estimated that 8 million
Americans have an eating disorder (7 million women and 1 million men)
·
One in 200 American women suffers
from anorexia
·
Two to three in 100 American women
suffers from bulimia
·
Nearly half of all Americans
personally know someone with an eating disorder (Note: One in five Americans
suffers from mental illnesses.)
·
An estimated 10 – 15% of people with
anorexia or bulimia are males
MORTALITY
RATES
·
Eating disorders have the highest
mortality rate of any mental illness
·
A study by the National Association
of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders reported that 5 – 10% of anorexics
die within 10 years after contracting the disease; 18-20% of anorexics will be
dead after 20 years and only 30 – 40% ever fully recover
·
The mortality rate associated with
anorexia nervosa is 12 times higher than the death rate of ALL causes of death
for females 15 – 24 years old.
·
20% of people suffering from
anorexia will prematurely die from complications related to their eating
disorder, including suicide and heart problems
ADOLESCENTS
·
Anorexia is the 3rd most common
chronic illness among adolescents
·
95% of those who have eating
disorders are between the ages of 12 and 25
·
50% of girls between the ages of 11
and 13 see themselves as overweight
·
80% of 13-year-olds have attempted
to lose weight
ATHLETES
·
Risk Factors: judged sports: 13% vs.
refereed sports: 3% prevalence.
·
20% higher rates of eating disorders
found in elite athletes.
·
Female athletes in aesthetic sports
(gymnastics, ballet, figure skating, cheerleading…) found to be at the highest
risk for eating disorders.
MEDIA, PRECEPTION, DIETING
·
35% of “normal dieters” progress to
pathological dieting. Of those, 20-25% progress to a partial of full-syndrome
eating disorder.
·
The body type portrayed in
advertising as “ideal” is only naturally possessed by 5% of American females.
·
47% of girls (5th-12th
grade) reported wanting to lose weight due to magazine photos.
·
69% of girls in 5th-12th grade
reported that magazine pictures influenced their idea of a perfect body shape.
·
42% of 1st-3rd grade girls want to
be thin.
·
81% of 10 year olds are afraid of
being fat. (10 years old!!! Are you kidding me?)
These statistics
are shocking and I was astounded by how many men and women struggle with this
disease. Even more so I realized how eating disorders are portrayed as shameful
and something to keep quiet about, which in my opinion is increasing the problem.
If we continue to avoid this subject and try and sweep the problem under the
rug, then we are ignorant! We need to raise awareness for this disease just
like any other disease out there. We as a society have this irrational fear of
helping other people because we don’t want to invade their privacy. However, from
personal experience, when I was going through my eating disorder all I truly wanted
was someone to know that secret in my life and support me through it. When
someone is going through an eating disorder they may act like they are annoyed
and don’t need your help, but more often than not they are secretly praying
that you won’t give up on them like everyone else has.
See the
main issue behind an eating disorder isn’t the fact that the person thinks they
are overweight, but it’s an emotional one. Like I addressed before, an eating
disorder is a way of controlling their spinning out of control life. Just being
a friend to someone who is struggling can be a huge help to them on a road to
recovery. Remember to come off in a nonjudgmental
way because even though you want to help, some people may not be ready for
change and your job may be just being there for them. I’ve been passionate about
this subject for a while and hope to work in some sort of way addressing this
issue in my future. The recovery process is a constant journey and we as humans
are here on earth to help and support each other.
If you or
someone you know is suffering from an eating disorder please get help. One
website that offers a lot of information about this disease is www.nationaleatingdisorders.org
