Hello RebelRoses,
We hope your week has had an amazing start to it. If not, we hope your tomorrow is greater than your today. Before we start today’s blog, a trigger warning regarding eating disorders.
Today’s topic is a sensitive, and an important one. If anyone needs help please turn to the following websites:
Eating disorders can affect anyone and everyone. From young children age 5+ to seniors aged 65+. An eating disorder like many mental illnesses does not care who you are, what you are, where you are, none of it. Also like other mental illnesses awareness and understanding is key to helping those fighting it.
We’ll start off with types of eating disorders, moving onto how some people are more affected than others & statistics, and then resources to help.
TYPES
There are three categories of eating disorders: Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa, and Binge-Eating Disorder.
Under Anorexia Nervosa there are two main types:
Binge/Purge- A person who has this type of eating disorder will usually purge whenever they eat. They do this out of an overwhelming sense of guilt related to eating. These feelings are recompensed through vomiting, excessive exercise, or an overtax of laxatives.
Restrictive- A person fighting this type of disorder will brutally limit the amount of food they intake. They will take in only a small amount, well below the calorie amount needed for their body type, slowly starving themselves.
What anorexia does is that it makes a person feel their body is bigger than it actually is, and they be very scared to gain weight. Anorexia affects each person differently, no two cases will be the exact same. The most important thing to do is to be aware of symptoms and to get help if you think you or someone you know is going through this or seems at risk.
Under Bulimia Nervosa there are two types:
Purging Type- This type of bulimia makes up a majority of cases for bulimia. People fighting this type of bulimia will self-purge on a “regular” basis.
Non-Purging Type- This type of bulimia a person will use other methods to purge, such as excessive exercising, fasting, not on a “regular” basis.
Binge-Eating Disorder is when a person takes in an “abnormal” or a better word for it may be excessive amount of food while they feel they can’t stop and/or have no control over the situation. An episode of binge eating is usually classified as when they occur two times a week for a period of six months.
PEOPLE AFFECTED
As stated earlier eating disorders can affect anyone and everyone. That being said between females (binary, non-binary) are more likely to be affected than men (binary, non-binary) by an eating disorder in their lifetime. According to the CMHA about 90% of people diagnosed with anorexia or bulimia are women, while binge-eating disorder affects equally.
Anorexia Nervosa affects 0.5%-4% of women in Canada, and bulimia affects 1%-4%, and binge-eating disorder affects a total of 2% people in Canada. While eating disorders can affect anyone there are certain groups of people who are more prone to these illnesses. These groups are:
Women
Young People
Family Members
People with Other Mental Illnesses
People with Certain Coping Mechanisms
People with Certain Careers/Cultures
People who Diet
Women are at the top of this list and are more likely to be diagnosed with an eating disorder. There are various reasons why, but some of the top ones are:
Research shows women are more likely to have body dissatisfaction (media, body stereotypes, bullying, diets that aren’t founded on any scientific findings)
Cultural beliefs-some cultures believe the thinner a woman is, the better she is physically, and mentally
Peer Pressure
These are just some reasons why, unfortunately there are a lot more to be found. It is time to change this culture, and let women, men, and people of all kind know it is okay to not be okay. To provide them with the help they need, and understand that our bodies are perfectly imperfect.
Until next time RebelRoses, you can keep in touch with us through our various social media platforms (links will be updated). Love you all!
Signed,
The RebelRoses
RESOURCES