Eating Disorders Program
What are Eating Disorders?
Both women and men can suffer from an eating disorder, although it is far more common in women, affecting them 10:1. Women who participate in sports emphasizing the body (dance, gymnastics, cheerleading) are at increased risk for developing eating disorders. Likewise, men who participate in sports where high emphasis is placed on weight criteria (boxing, wrestling, gymnastics) are also at an increased risk.
Even though there are several types of eating disorders, they all have one thing in common: the normal pattern of eating when you are hungry and stopping when you are full is severely disrupted.
Often eating disorders begin as innocent diets, but the person becomes more and more preoccupied with weight and calories until their initial diet goals have spun completely out of control.
For many suffering from an eating disorder, the illness often embodies a way of gaining control over a portion of their lives at a time when it may seem they have lost all control. Controlling what they eat may bring a sense of comfort and control to what may be an otherwise chaotic life.
Many eating disorders involve having a distorted or unrealistic body image. For example, a woman who is very thin or even normal weight may see herself as overweight and even obese, and thus needing to lose weight. True reflections of the self are often absent when an eating disorder is present, making it almost impossible to accurately see oneself.
The two most well known and well documented eating disorders are anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. However, there are eating disorders that don’t fit into either category fully, but rather combine criteria from both of these disorders and are thus classified as Eating Disorders Not Otherwise Specified.
