misconceptions of ED

well i  posted a status on facebook asking people what a good blog topic would be. one response was misconceptions of ED. my first thought was dang i could go on forever with that one. society has formed so many lies and stereotypes around people diagnosed with eating disorders. then again if you think, people thrive off of gossip.

the misconceptions go from the way a person with an eating disorder should look too what an eating disorder specifically is.

here are some myths

1) eating disorders are not serious; they are a "lifestyle or choice
                      TRUTH eating disorders are a serious and life threatening mental illness. and they definatly arent a diet gone "too far." many people think we can just "snap out of it" but no we dont choose too be like this. I cant tell you how many times i have cried out for this to be taken away or gone back in time and stopped this eating disorder from ever starting.

2) eating disorders are a cry for attention
       TRUTH in fact many people try to hide their eating disorders for as  long as possible. they try to disguise and deny their behavior. or they may not even believe that there is anything wrong.  for me my eating disorder was far from attention, it was and is the opposite. i wanted to shrink away to nothing and disappear from the world because i didnt feel worthy enough. worthy of what you ask? Love, acceptance, just being alive and breathing air. so no i dont starve myself for attention

3)you can tell if someone has an eating disorder by looking at them
     TRUTH people with eating disorders come in all shapes and sizes. a lot of people think you need to look like a walking skeleton and be 60 pounds in order to have an eating disorder. sadly i have known people who have died at healthy weights and even overweight from the damage they have done to their bodies. you cant always tell the pain someone is feeling just by looking at them. people engage in behaviors at all weights.  eating disorders come in one size---miserable. did you know people wont seek help or treatment because of this silly misconception? they're embarassed and believe they're too fat for help which ends up costing them their lives.

4)eating disorders are caused by the media
   TRUTH many people are exposed to the media and altered images on a daily basis and only a small percentage actually have eating disorders. eating disoders have biological, genetic and psychological underpinnings. of course the media doesnt help the situation at all but they are by no means the cause of eating disorders. although i so badly wish theyd get off their damn weight loss streaking on the news.

5) someone can chose to stop having an eating disorder
  TRUTH Someone can make the choice to pursue recovery, but the act of recovery itself is a lot of hard work and involves more than simply deciding to not act on symptoms. In most cases, the eating disorder has become a person’s primary way of coping with intense emotions and difficult life events . for me my ed became all i knew it was my life. what i woke up to every morning, my last thought before ffalling asleep it haunts me every moment of my life. i WISH i could just throw it in the trash can, but it takes a hell of a lot more than that and its scary work.

6)Anorexia is about vanity. If a person with anorexia says, ‘I feel fat,’ it is just to get compliments.
   TRUTH People with anorexia experience a real distortion in their body image. This is one of the symptoms of the illness. Often, a person with anorexia will view his or her body very differently than we view it. Described as looking in a “fun-house mirror,” the self-perceptions of people with anorexia are not an accurate reflection of their true body weight and shape. even when i got to the dangerously low weight of 93 pounds at the height of 5'9" i still saw myself as fat and i cant even begin to describe the amount of SELF HATRED i experience on  a daily basis.

7) Anorexia is all about control.
truth There is some truth to this statement, but it is important to clear up any misconceptions surrounding the idea of control and eating disorders. A person with anorexia may feel that he or she has been unable to effect change in certain aspects of life or may feel unable to control the unfolding of certain life events. He or she may instead attempt to control food intake as a way of having mastery over one area of life. For some patients, anorexia serves as a complex distraction from other painful, seemingly unmanageable feelings or events. A person with an eating disorder does not know of another way to cope, but most would change this if they could.

8)An Eating Disorder Will Be Completely Cured After Treatment
   TRUTH People go into treatment and become weight stabilized. Physically they're in a safe place, but they're not in a safe mental state. There are still underlying emotional issues. It's completely about the food and completely not about food. People may be weight restored, but they may not be completely emotionally restored.

9) anorexics never eat
  TRUTH
Someone with anorexia will deny themselves food while they may actually feel extremely hungry but its not accurate that they never eat. they deny themselves to such low caloric levels that it puts their bodies into starvation mode. some may munch on veggies and low calorie things to curb their appetite.

10)
Eating disorders only affect girls and young women
     TRUTH Although statistics show that eating disorders  affects young women, it is thought that the figures underestimate the number of men who have eating disorders.
Official figures show that one in ten of people diagnosed with anorexia are males. and the numbers are increasing at an alarming rate. i have been in treatment with several men who suffer from eating disorders.

my biggest point from this post...dont assume, educate yourself. dont hurt someone because of your ignorance or lack of knowledge.