Anorexia is marked by a preoccupation with losing weight to the point of becoming emaciated.
Truth. About 85 percent of eating disorders start with a diet. [Note from a therapist: The women I interviewed received compliments during their initial weight loss, which reinforced their behavior, and they took the weight loss beyond a healthy level.]
An eating disorder is a mental illness. Although it revolves around eating and body weight, an eating disorder isn’t about food, but about feelings.
Truth. It is important to understand the issues underlying the eating disorder. The eating behaviors are just symptoms of and a mechanism for coping with the underlying issues. Eating disorders are part of a deeper psychological issue and are not always rooted in a true need to lose weight.
Eating disorders occur only in women ages 18 to 24.
Myth. Eating disorders tend to develop in early ages, sometimes even as early as five. But, research has shown that people can develop an eating disorder at any age.
Only females have eating disorders.
Myth. Approximately 5 to 10 percent of eating disorders occur in males. Men tend to have more pressure to develop a V-shaped body (broad shoulders and a slender waist) and a well-developed six-pack. But they also may develop eating disorder symptoms similar to those that women suffer from. In addition, the rates of eating disorders are rising among various races and ethnicities around the world as people adopt Eurocentric cultural values.
Bulimia is a good way to lose weight.
Myth. Bulimia is an ineffective and dangerous weight-control method. Over time, individuals with bulimia tend to gain weight. In addition, many people transform from anorexia to bulimia over time or switch back and forth between the two.
A person with an eating disorder who purges does so through just vomiting.
Myth. Purging can mean self-induced vomiting; the misuse of laxatives, diuretics, or enemas; or excessive exercising.
Compulsive overeating is as serious a problem as anorexia or bulimia.
Truth. Compulsive overeating can be as serious a problem as anorexia or bulimia. Heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, and depression are only a few of the potential consequences of compulsive overeating. Our society is extremely fat phobic and many people falsely associate fat with immorality, laziness, and stupidity.
If you have an eating disorder you will always have an eating disorder: once started, it is a lifetime struggle.
Myth. Although many people who seek treatment for an eating disorder still think about food and losing weight, these same people can achieve a new perspective on life that allows them to live life fully—without being obsessed and driven by their thoughts and feelings. On the other hand, for some women an eating disorder can be a lifetime struggle, or it can lead to death.
Being thin will mean being happy.
Myth. As those with anorexia nervosa can attest, happiness does not automatically follow weight loss. Being happy is within you. Happiness is a state of mind you create that is not dependent on anything else. You can be happy regardless of your weight or circumstances.
[Note from a therapist: Nearly every person I interviewed mentioned being “miserable,” “isolated,” and not being successful in their job, school, or whatever other activities they were engaged in at that time in their life (while controlled by an eating disorder).
Recovery is easy once you find a treatment center.
Myth. Recovery time and difficulty varies among people with eating disorders. However, there is no quick and easy cure. You can’t turn the eating-disorder switch on and off as swiftly as the media sometimes portrays.
With a sensible diet and strong commitment, everyone can become and remain thin.
Myth. People come in all shapes and sizes, and being thin is not just a matter of diet and commitment. It is also a matter of genetics. Every body is different. We are not all built the same, and we need to honor our natural body shape and size.
Many people, especially those with anorexia, will deny the problem to others and to themselves.
Truth. [Note from a therapist: Often, the women I interviewed used magazine models as “thinspirations” and as confirmation that they weren’t too thin. One of the biggest findings from my study was that the women never felt they were anorexic enough because their ribs weren’t jutting out, etc. If they engaged in purging behaviors, it was more obvious to them that something was wrong.]
And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.
--Anais Nin
Prevention & Education:
Myth or Truth
