2008 Woodie Awards
Counseling Corner
Mirror, mirror on the wall...
Jody Morrison
Issue date: 2/24/06 Section: Opinion
- Page 1 of 1
Do I, or someone I know, have an eating disorder?
At some point or another, almost all people overeat or try dieting. This is very different from what I am going to talk about. People that severely restrict their food intake, or eat an extremely high volume of calories and then vomit or use laxatives on a regular basis may have an eating disorder or they may be on the verge of having an eating disorder.
Well-meaning family and friends believe that the way to help a person with an eating disorder is tell them to stop it. To understand these disorders is to realize it is rarely a choice for the person. It is an illness. Restricting, binging, purging or exercising becomes a vicious cycle. The person may not even be trying to reach a certain goal weight. Eating Disorders are complex illnesses and if they are left untreated can become very serious even deadly.
Anxiety and depression are common in people with eating disorders. By controlling their intake of food or how often they exercise, people with eating disorders feel a sense of control over their lives. This unfortunately is false and before long an individual may be seen or feel out-of-control.
Some signs to look for; Refusal to weigh at or above the lowest normal weight for age and height; intense fear of gaining weight; disturbed way of looking at his/her body weight; denial of low body weight; the absence of at least 3 menstrual cycles; recurrent episodes of eating a lot of food and then inappropriately trying to prevent weight gain; self-worth is determined by body shape or weight.
Answering 'yes' to one or more of these does not necessarily mean you or your friend has an eating disorder. Just that you would benefit from seeing the counselor to talk about possible concerns. Counseling services will be providing a psychologist from the community to speak at a program regarding eating disorders. Watch for details coming soon. For questions or concerns or to set up an appointment with the counselor call x6653. All sessions are free and confidential.
Jody Morrison
Counseling Services
777-6653
misov35b@erau.edu
At some point or another, almost all people overeat or try dieting. This is very different from what I am going to talk about. People that severely restrict their food intake, or eat an extremely high volume of calories and then vomit or use laxatives on a regular basis may have an eating disorder or they may be on the verge of having an eating disorder.
Well-meaning family and friends believe that the way to help a person with an eating disorder is tell them to stop it. To understand these disorders is to realize it is rarely a choice for the person. It is an illness. Restricting, binging, purging or exercising becomes a vicious cycle. The person may not even be trying to reach a certain goal weight. Eating Disorders are complex illnesses and if they are left untreated can become very serious even deadly.
Anxiety and depression are common in people with eating disorders. By controlling their intake of food or how often they exercise, people with eating disorders feel a sense of control over their lives. This unfortunately is false and before long an individual may be seen or feel out-of-control.
Some signs to look for; Refusal to weigh at or above the lowest normal weight for age and height; intense fear of gaining weight; disturbed way of looking at his/her body weight; denial of low body weight; the absence of at least 3 menstrual cycles; recurrent episodes of eating a lot of food and then inappropriately trying to prevent weight gain; self-worth is determined by body shape or weight.
Answering 'yes' to one or more of these does not necessarily mean you or your friend has an eating disorder. Just that you would benefit from seeing the counselor to talk about possible concerns. Counseling services will be providing a psychologist from the community to speak at a program regarding eating disorders. Watch for details coming soon. For questions or concerns or to set up an appointment with the counselor call x6653. All sessions are free and confidential.
Jody Morrison
Counseling Services
777-6653
misov35b@erau.edu