Eating Disorders: Are You at Risk?

Why is it that some people are perfectly content with their bodies while others are never satisfied? We live in a culture that worships bone-thin movie stars, and marginalizes anyone with any sort of “extra weight.”

When Do We Develop Disordered Eating Patterns?

While it’s true that for most victims eating disorders get rooted at an earlier – usually begin in the teens and twenties when we’re most susceptible to scrutiny by our peers – no one is immune to eating disorders – they’ve been known to surface during the middle age years, as well.

Although more women than men suffer from eating disorders, it can affect both men and women. Eating disorders aren’t just a problem among the girls anymore. Young men are finding out what young women have known for centuries – how it feels to be criticized when their bodies don’t meet an objectified standard. The number of men who become obsessed with diet and weight is rising rapidly.

Knowing Your Risks

If you’re the type of person who can’t get enough exercise or someone who competes in athletic competitions, then you might be prone to developing an eating disorder because you falsely believe it will enhance your performance. Men complicate this already difficult problem with steroid use to bulk up muscle. Thus there’s an alarming rise in the number of young males experiencing the same bulimic or anorexic tendencies that their female counterparts do.

If you are close to someone who has an eating disorder, like a loved one in your family, your risk increases.  You might think that seeing an eating disorder in action would influence you in the opposite way, but instead, it sometimes makes it socially acceptable. You may have been subjected to influence from your parents when you were growing up.  If your mom was occupied by her “fat thighs” then chances are, you’ll develop that incessant worry.

And we can’t forget the peer influences that are so critical to the outlook we have about ourselves.  When you’re constantly criticized by parents, siblings, school friends and bullies who tell you that you need to go on a diet, even in a joking manner, those words and phrases can be internalized and used as fuel for the eating disorder “fire.” Family and friends may dismiss your very real problem as “just trying to get attention” or “simply needing to find a good diet and stick to it.” Neither of these comments is constructive. In fact, this kind of criticism can drive you to become even further immersed in the behavior, becoming obsessed.

People suffering from compulsive disorders like OCD sometimes get on eating and dieting as a way to control their environment. The paradox is that they me we try to control our food, the more out of control we feel and become. This negative feedback loop may lead to depression and anxiety.

How to Stop It

Prevention begins with awareness and education. If you recognize any of these tendencies in yourself, then you’ll want to take action to prevent yourself from developing or further involving yourself in an eating disorder lifestyle.  Talk to your doctor about the issue and find out what a healthy weight and diet would be for your specific body type, so that you are not choosing and working towards an ideal that is not possible for your body and frame type.

Disordered eating habits can become a serious psychological problem that results in permanent physical damage to your body.  Unfortunately, you cannot control life by controlling your food choices. Instead of listening to the destructive voices that influence your concerns, work on building your confidence and socializing with positive people who don’t criticize you on a regular basis. Try focusing on what’s causing you to want control in other areas of your life.  Are you stressed beyond belief?  Anxious about something you fear won’t work out?  Don’t use food as your tool of comfort.  If you’re already mired in an eating disorder, seek help before it snowballs into something you can’t break away from.

I know you’re struggling in silence. I know you need help. I know you want someone to take your hand and tell you “it’s going to be okay” and know that tomorrow will be better.