What To Say To Someone With An Eating Disorder – Eating disorders that include anorexia, bulimia, bulimia, or other persistent unhealthy behaviors such as excessive exercise affect more than 20 million women and 10 million men in the United States by the end of the year. at some point in their lives—and this number has continued to grow since 1950.
All eating disorders can cause serious health problems, and anorexia has the highest mortality rate of all mental disorders. If you have a friend or family member who you feel may be struggling with an eating disorder, it can be difficult to know what to say and what not to say. Here are some recommendations for what might help—and what could be harmful.
What To Say To Someone With An Eating Disorder
What you say and what someone with an eating disorder hears can be very different, because they may have different interpretations of what is helpful. It’s best to avoid any weight-related comments. Kaitlyn Oberg, a 19-year-old sophomore at Temple University, was diagnosed with anorexia when she was 14. She said: “It’s not appropriate to say ‘you look so healthy’. “When someone with an eating disorder hears that, the first thing they think is ‘You look so much fatter, you look like you’ve gained weight.’”
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Temimah Zucker suffered from anorexia when she was 18 years old. He was only hours away from an insulin coma when his parents walked in. Now, she’s a therapist who treats patients with eating disorders and thinks she’s recovered, but she says: “Even in recovery, hearing ‘You look like much better’ can be really hard to deal with.
People with eating disorders tend to be secretive and want to hide their condition. There is a lot of confusion and attention can be overwhelming. “The most important thing my clients complain about is that people say, ‘Why do you have this [condition]? Just eat your food.’”
Dana Land, a nursing student, was diagnosed with an eating disorder in seventh grade. She says it doesn’t help when people say, “As long as you eat, you’ll be fine. It’s just food.” She adds, “They don’t understand that the deeper process of an eating disorder is not just about food.”
Oberg said, also unpopular, “is (someone) saying ‘Is that all you’re going to eat?’ or ‘Did you really eat that much?’ .”
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If you think it’s time to talk to someone about their diet, Zucker recommends thinking twice. “It’s case by case,” he said. “You want support, you don’t want them to get sicker, but if someone isn’t ready to recover, it takes time.” Instead of pushing, Zucker says, “Let them know you’re there and ready to help when they need it.”
However, there are exceptions. “If they are very underweight or if they have regular bowel movements, it is time to take action,” says Zucker. “You can die from both, so look at the severity of the incident,” he said. “You might have to put them on the show, especially if they’re minors.”
Creating guilt or guilt can make things worse, so instead of taking what you say as an accusation, talk about what you notice and what worries you. As Zucker explains, “If you have a friend who is having a hard time, you should discuss if you’d sit in a private place and use ‘I’.” Just showing concern, says Zucker, can help get over a loved one; she suggests using phrases like “I feel very concerned about you, I’m concerned for your well-being, (and) I’d like to know if something’s going on.” But avoid telling the person that their behavior is wrong or strange.
Ultimately, entertainment and social media can be powerful tools for good or bad, so use empathy before posting anything. “Think about the things you say,” Zucker said. “You don’t really know who’s having a hard time and who isn’t, so you can share a joke you think is funny about someone being super skinny or big, but those are the things that reinforce the idea. think that weight equals health. Be aware of what you put out there.
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Nancy LeBrun is an Emmy and Peabody Award-winning writer and producer who has been writing about health and fitness for over 5 years. He is a member of the Healthcare Journalists Association and the American Association of Journalists and Writers.
THIS DEVICE DOES NOT PROVIDE MEDICAL ADVICE. It is for informational purposes only. It is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Never disregard professional medical advice when seeking treatment just because of something you read on a website. If you think you may have a medical emergency, call your doctor right away or call 911. *This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I can get flowers commission (you pay no extra!) if you make a purchase using one of these links.*
Yes, I know it’s not Monday, but my schedule is messed up, so I’ll be sharing my Mental Health post on Monday about issues with
With cancer, no one chose to have schizophrenia, depression, or an eating disorder. Eating disorders are life-threatening mental illnesses and should be treated with the same care as any other serious medical condition. For someone struggling with anorexia, bulimia or bulimia, some comments can do more harm than good, no matter how harmless or innocent they may be.
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How you approach the big ED elephant in the room can completely determine your future relationship with a loved one who currently has an eating disorder, so make sure you do your research to find as many as you can. Research and proven information about eating disorders as possible. As an additional resource and PC guide to avoid offending someone you love, here are 14 things to look out for
[bctt tweet=”Ignorance is not happiness. Never say these 14 things to someone who may have an eating disorder.” username =”stephanieziajka”]
You would think this is a certainty, but while I was recovering from an eating disorder, I personally heard both ends of the judgment spectrum more often than I could possibly associate. People with eating disorders are often self-conscious about their food choices, and embarrassing them to eat what you consider “unhealthy” can exacerbate their reticence about eating. eat certain foods as part of their treatment plan. These types of comments can be dangerous, so please avoid them at all costs.
It may sound — and may be — harmless, but commenting on the weight of someone with an eating disorder (past or current) is never a good idea, even if you just have the best intentions. For the average person trying to lose weight, comments about weight loss are welcome. People with eating disorders may equate “looking healthy” with “looking fat,” and your innocuous remarks have the potential to lead to a temporary relapse or even a full-blown relapse. Also, gaining weight can paint a picture of physical recovery, but that doesn’t mean their struggle is over. Full recovery took a while– my recovery plan took over a year and
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Considered normal, they may still struggle mentally or emotionally. Ignorance should not be an excuse to hinder your loved one’s recovery, so for more information on eating disorders and the troubles surrounding mental illness, I recommend you check out the ANAD (National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Related Disorders) or NEDA (National Eating Disorders Association). .
Normalizing distractions is taboo and you shouldn’t try to validate self-harm as an acceptable option. Unless you personally have an eating disorder, you may not fully understand the emotional, physical, and mental torment surrounding anorexia or bulimia.
Eating disorders have nothing to do with willpower, and it goes without saying that it’s inappropriate to glorify any self-defeating method.
While you may just want to help, try to stay away from comments that could be seen as condescending. Eating disorders aren’t just about food; They are a serious and complex mental illness, and offering simple solutions can undermine someone’s struggles and potentially hinder their progress.
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Valuable, especially for things over which they legally have no control. Your loved one may have a distorted body image that prevents them from seeing what you see.
7. “It’s annoying when you tell people you think you’re fat… because if you think you’re fat, you obviously think they’re fat too.”
Again, these comments are unintentionally embarrassing and accusatory. A person’s eating disorder is about himself. Stage = Stage. No more no less.
One of the biggest misconceptions about eating disorders is that only a specific group of thin women get it. Completely opposite. You don’t always know when someone has an eating disorder. They do not discriminate. They affect people of all shapes, weights, ages, ethnicities, and genders. Telling someone they don’t look “sick” enough to have an eating disorder will end their struggles and may lead them to believe they don’t deserve help.
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In front of you doesn’t mean they don’t struggle with disorganized thoughts, feelings, and behaviors about food and body image. Also, going back to “Oh, you ate too much today,” it is likely that anyone with an eating disorder would find it very uncomfortable to discuss food openly; these types of comments can be harmful
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