Eating Disorders

What are the Eating Disorders?

An eating disorder is a serious mental illness, characterised by eating, exercising and body weight or shape becoming an unhealthy preoccupation of someone's life.

And here is a story of one of my friends she was a skinny girl in high school and everyone always gave her weird nicknames. One of them was “E” because she ate too many calories. Another one was “M” because she had some weird way of eating her food which was very unusual for her. A person once told me that her mother used to be addicted to heroin, so when she saw this she asked her if she ever used it or not and that is what my friend has been going through. All three people seem like nice people but the only thing she really has to do now is gone and get professional help and she will never try drugs again because at least if they are helping her she can make sense of all the other stuff she is dealing with. So she told her about having eating disorders and she got the diagnosis. She said that she should probably see an early recovery expert instead of getting off heroin and she started seeing a team of doctors for weight loss surgery in New York City. After meeting with the specialist her symptoms started going away for a while and now it seems like she has a lot of energy and she even wants to quit drinking. This may seem strange but I think she has finally found clarity and a sense of balance. Maybe you know someone who does this type of thing, or maybe we just need more awareness.

I would like to start by saying that eating disorders are real and they are serious problems. People spend hours watching YouTube videos on these things and I think we do understand their condition. There is a long list of different types. Although we tend to have different names in each individual case, there are some things that seem quite similar to me. But I may also talk a little bit out there. I am here today to show you that this eating disorder is a big problem and it affects many people. It is a disease that can affect anyone regardless of race, age, gender or any other special characteristics like sexual orientation or ethnicity. We get to hear about eating disorders on national news channels, from celebrities and media personalities to television producers, but as most people know they happen everywhere as well.

There is also no specific diagnosis made for most types. Some of us may actually struggle with eating disorders all of our lives. We find ourselves eating much differently than others. For example, some of us eat more frequently and some eat less frequently, but still, there are other people who eat regularly and eat less often. Some people might not even eat at all one night because they are stressed. However what we do know about eating disorders is that they do not necessarily mean we are constantly doing something, but rather we have different behaviours and attitudes toward food. We eat according to our liking and sometimes by intention. In fact, we sometimes have reasons for eating things and we eat things differently. Sometimes we eat things that are healthy and sometimes we don't. And we usually eat things that are bad.

It's hard to define any of these things because it depends on who we are. The best way I can explain is eating patterns. When you eat according to how you feel, you get healthier and stronger. You have to give your body what it needs and you get more nutrition and energy. If someone wants to become lean more often, then they can do so easily because they can eat healthy more frequently than they would normally. You can eat healthy foods more frequently sometimes and eat unhealthy things more frequently.

Now the main question: How exactly do we cope with eating disorders? Well, there are two major ways of coping. First and foremost we just need to be kind to our bodies. Take care of our mental health and diet to keep our minds clear. Second, we need to set boundaries with others. That can include family and friends so you will not fight with people who are eating disorders. It means that I need you guys to let me know when I am not able to reach my goals each week and ask me what is wrong. Never stop asking, be understanding and supportive. Let me say another interesting tip. Never stop caring for yourself, never stop putting effort into getting fit. That can be difficult for me because I also do physical exercise because I think it improves my mental and emotional health. Also if you want to improve your health don't drink alcohol because it makes you drink harder and harder to recover from. Alcohol can harm your brain, or can even cause blindness. Do it for yourself, please! I cannot stress this enough, do not drink if you are going to lose weight. You can't lose weight using anything else (like detoxes) which are harmful to your brain and heart. My advice is to drink lots of water, not sugar. But if you think you are craving alcohol you should just stop drinking altogether and stick to pure water. It helps to clear your mind of negative thoughts and feelings.

So the first part is the biggest part of eating disorders. Everyone goes through personal issues that force them to change what they eat and how they are eating. Whether we are aware of others' eating patterns or not there is nothing wrong with the second part. Please take care of our physical health. Our brains can suffer from dementia from a lack of nutrients, whether from insufficient sleep or depression from stress. Don't neglect your body and your mental health. Because if we are taking care of our mental health we are taking good care of our bodies. They are our entire beings.

I hope you enjoyed reading one of my friend's stories and hearing me out on why I am doing this. Please do help yourself and others to fight this thing that calls an eating disorder.