Hello everyone! This is the 2nd day yes technically today is the 3rd day but i will do the today's topic later so today is day 2 and later when i get home from school i'll do day 3.
What i want to talk about today is the misconceptions of eating disorders and mental health in general. Mainly two misconceptions i want to go in depth on today.
You have to be underweight to have an eating disorder or show the typical "signs" of one.
Absolutely false. Okay, to get this straight, i'm not underweight and never have been before or during my ED. Yes i'm pretty close to being underweight but i'm not anorexic diagnostically according to my weight and am i fine with that? Yes but part of me believes i'm not sick enough because of this myth that being underweight is the end all be all of eating disorders. False. My BMI is yes on the low side of being healthy but i'm not underweight but everyone who believes this myth to be true needs to know people who aren't underweight or noticeably sick i'm still very much sick in regards to my thoughts and behaviors towards food and it's just as much of a hell to live with compared to someone who is in an inpatient facility who is forced to gain weight.
Also other people who have Binge Eating Disorder they're obviously not going to be underweight but it's still very much a eating disorders and very much a problem even though society perceives them as gluttonous and "wrong". Everyone is much as sick as the other person because it's a MENTAL illness, the physical deterioration is the side effect of eating disorders but it is not the root cause, not even close.
Next topic is....
Eating disorders are only for teenage white girls
I heard this topic come up on the NEDA (national eating disorder association) Google hangout they had on their website in honor of eating disorder awareness week. The topic came up of the "typical" scenario of girls with eating disorders and i agree strongly on this topic as well. No one is less of a sufferer just because their skin color is different or they're an adult, married, maybe even with children. I know woman on the internet who still struggle daily with their eating disorder while being a mother and wife are they less deserving? Absolutely not. Eating disorders can occur through all stages of life as well as race and ethnicity because we all have the same feelings on the inside no matter if their skin color is different.
Those are two of the main misconceptions that stood out to me. It's important to know eating disorders as well as mental illnesses are diseases that do not discriminate.
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