Eating Disorders are more than Food

I know eating disorders are called eating disorders and have a lot to do with food and eating in the name alone, but oh my god it's so much more. At the program I'm in (which I choose to leave nameless) they treat eating disorders as emotional disorders because they are. Eating disorders are often ways to cope with uncomfortable emotions. It's important to note that eating disorders are not a lifestyle choice, but rather a biologically influenced medical illness.

According to the National Institute of Mental Health, "research suggests a combination of genetic, biological, behavioral, psychological, and social factors can raise a person’s risk." It's not just a girl thinking she wants to be skinny. It's about people (not just girls) not knowing how to handle their emotions. If eating disorders were just about food, people wouldn't have to go through treatment to recover; they would do it on their own.

For me, the eating disorder served my depression. My eating disorder developed in a time of depression when I didn't know how to feel my feelings, so instead, I felt hungry. Jump forward to my sophomore year of college and the function of my eating disorder was the same. It was easier for me to feel hungry than feeling sad or angry or happy or anything. I got to a point where I was so physically exhausted from starving myself that I couldn't feel anything except tired. Giving into my eating disorder was so much worse than feeling my depression.

My eating disorder also helped to subside anxiety. I'm sure I'm not the only one that has felt nauseous due to anxiety. Well, when I felt that nausea I wouldn't eat. That just lowered my tolerance to feeling my anxiety which later hurt me more than it helped me.

This is all to say eating disorders are rarely about food. So when someone says "just eat" to a person struggling with an eating disorder, that's not helpful at all.