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Eating Disorders


What are Eating Disorders?

The most common eating problems are disordered eating, bulimia, anorexia, and binge eating. Students who experience disordered eating may engage in restricting, binging, and/or purging to a mild degree. People with bulimia are often of average weight, binge on food, and then get rid of it by throwing up, exercising compulsively, or using laxatives. People with anorexia restrict their food intake, exercise excessively, and are often extremely thin. Those who binge eat consume large amounts of food but do not purge, and are often overweight.

The need for control is a common theme. Eating disorders are not just about weight and food, but are related to stress, anxiety, low self-esteem and emotional pain. Cultural factors, psychological problems, learned behavior, family issues, interpersonal problems, and biological reasons can all contribute to the development of an eating disorder. Eating disorders usually develop during adolescence and young adulthood. While they typically affect young women, older persons and men may also develop eating disorders.

For more general information about eating disorders please visit the National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA) website. To learn more about Night Eating Syndrome visit the Anorexia Nervosa and Related Eating Disorders, Inc. (ANRED) website.

What are the Warning Signs?

Dieting, food restriction and over exercise often lead to preoccupation with food and body weight and may be a warning that you are at risk for an eating disorder. Following are some thoughts and behaviors which would indicate a serious problem:

  • I am so preoccupied with weight, food, calories, or dieting, that it consistently intrudes on conversations and interferes with other activities.
  • I have an excessive and/or rigid exercise regimen; I will exercise despite weather, fatigue, illness, and injury. I exercise to burn calories.
  • I have begun to avoid social and other activities because of weight or shape concerns.
  • I continue to be concerned about fat on my body, even though I have lost a lot of weight.
  • I have gone on eating binges where I feel that I may not be able to stop.
  • I vomit after I have eaten.
  • Food controls my life.
  • I have used laxatives, diet pills, or diuretics to control my weight or shape.
  • I chew gum constantly or I am always drinking water or diet beverages to control hunger.
  • I believe that I am good when I'm thin and bad when I am fat.

Eating disorders are serious diseases with major physical and psychological consequences. If you think you are at risk, or someone has expressed their concern about you, call the University Health Center Health Promotion Department (706-542-8690) to learn more about eating disorders or Counseling and Psychiatric Services (706-542-2273) for help.

Learn more about healthy eating at What is Healthy Eating? For more information on general nutrition, please visit our Nutrition section.

What Services are Available to Help Students with an Eating Disorder?

The faster a person with an eating disorder gets help, the greater the chances for recovery. Recovery takes time and patience, and change occurs slowly, especially when behaviors have been long-standing. These are serious disorders that often require professional assistance for recovery.

A multidisciplinary team of professionals is available at the University Health Center to help students with eating disorders and disordered eating. The team currently consists of psychotherapists, a registered dietitian, a psychiatrist, and a physician's assistant. The team regularly consults with CAPS psychiatrists when students are prescribed medication. Additional UHC staff are brought in when specialized skills or consultation is needed.

The UHC/CAPS eating disorders program offers comprehensive psychological, nutritional, and physical evaluation. The evaluation will assess the severity and type of eating disorder the student has. Appropriate treatment for each student will be determined. Individual psychotherapy, group therapy, nutritional counseling, and medication evaluation and monitoring are available. Referral to community resources is made for issues requiring long-term therapy or hospitalization.

How Much Exercise is Too Much?

Compulsive exercisers use excessive activity to "purge" the body of excess calories in order to maintain abnormal eating patterns or to prevent weight gain. Following are a few of the signs of compulsive exercise:

  • Repeatedly exercising beyond the requirements for good health
  • Defines self worth in terms of performance
  • Experiences strong feelings of guilt or anxiety if unable to exercise
  • Does not allow time off to heal injuries
  • Intense preoccupation with weight or body image

Physical consequences of this disorder include stress fractures, tendonitis, damaged bones, joints, tendons, and ligaments, anemia, loss of menstrual cycle, dehydration and fatigue.

If you struggle with this issue, you may contact Counseling and Psychiatric Services (706-542-2273) or Health Promotion (706-542-8690) for more information.

Web site for more information
http://www.something-fishy.org/whatarethey/exercise.php

How to Help a Friend or Family Member with an Eating Disorder

If you are concerned that a friend or loved one is suffering from an eating disorder, begin by learning as much as you can about eating disorders as well as local treatment centers and referral sources. Eating disorders are complex problems that are best treated by a team of health care specialists, including medical, psychological, and nutrition professionals. If you decide to talk to your friend about your concerns, it is important to do so in a kind and nonjudgmental way. Following are some suggestions:

  1. Plan to approach the person in a private place when there is time to talk and there are no immediate stressors present.
  2. Present in a caring and straightforward way what you have observed and what your concerns are. Tell her or him that you are worried and want to help.
  3. Be patient. You cannot expect overnight recovery even if the person is in therapy.
  4. If the person denies the problem, becomes angry or refuses treatment, understand that this is often part of the illness.
  5. Do not try to be a hero or a rescuer; you will probably be resented. If you do the best you can to help on several occasions and the person does not accept it, then stop. You may have planted a seed that encourages them to eventually seek help.
  6. Do not allow the person's problem to interfere with your normal functioning. You may also want to seek outside help for yourself.
  7. If the person is in immediate physical danger (e.g. passing out, extreme confusion), get them to an emergency room or UHC Acute Care Clinic during clinic hours.

A summary of do's and don'ts:

  • Do listen and be supportive.
  • Do care and nurture.
  • Do provide information.
  • Do encourage professional help.
  • Don't be judgmental.
  • Don't dwell on eating, weight or appearance. Avoid making comments about the person's appearance either positive or negative.
  • Don't insist that the person eat, not eat, or change attitudes.
  • Don't try to police or control the person.
  • Don't ignore the problem.

The multidisciplinary eating disorders team at the University Health Center provides evaluation, treatment and outside referral, if needed. For more information on eating disorders, how to help a friend, and local treatment options call 706-542-2273 (Counseling and Psychiatric Services) or 706-542-8690 (Health Promotion).