Eating Disorders and Me... and you... and everyone...

This week is National Eating Disorders Awareness Week.

I drafted three different posts to talk about how important it is that we, as a culture, see the importance of treatment for eating disorders but nothing came out the way I wanted it to.

The fact is, I've dealt with disordered eating my entire life.  My mother likes to tell people that, even as a very young child, I would ask for seconds of meals before even touching my first serving.

I was always "scared" of food, of there not being enough, of how it made me feel or didn't make me feel.  I've never really been okay with food. I'm still not okay with food. I will probably fight with this my entire life.

I've gone through periods of my life where I've restricted, binged, binged and purged, binged again and, from time to time I've eaten like a normal reasonable person. I've also used laxatives and diuretics and appetite suppressants and miracle pills to assist with restricting, binging or purging.

I've had all the labels tossed at me by doctors over the year but I've managed to control it through talk therapy when symptoms became more pronounced.

Lately, I have had to deal with people trying to label me with exercise anorexia due to my extreme teaching loading.  I worry that I'm headed in that direction and I'm working on reconciling that with my other symptoms and I'm talking more about exercise and food with those that are closest to me to try and ensure that I'm being objective about everything.

Eating disorders, like all other mental health issues, are serious and everyone should be informed and open to all the avenues of treatment and recovery.  Be aware of your relationship with food and, if you feel like you need help, there are a myriad of resources out there for you to seek the help you need.

Check out NationalEatingDisorders.org  or nedawareness.org for more information.  Or talk to someone you love.