An effort is being made to get the public to understand that eating disorders, whether eating too much or eating too little, are a treatable psychological disorder, and not a personal failing, as many Americans believe, News Radio 1200 WOAI reports.
Carolyn Jones, a Registered Nurse and Senior Clinical Manager of the Eating Recovery Center of San Antonio, says, in fact, eating disorders are the most dangerous of all psychological challenges.
"Eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of any psychological illness, from depression schizophrenia, all of them, eating disorders have the highest mortality rate," she said.
Eating disorders span the gamut from people who overeat due to stress or other psychological conditions, to people who eat too little, leading to dangerous conditions like anorexia and bulimia.
"Anybody with an eating disorder, generally most people, have a good deal of shame around it," she said.
Despite efforts to end what is called 'body shaming' of people, especially women, who don't fit the ideal of a slim figure, Jones says there is still a lot of pressure on women to be thin, and that leads to women being the most common of the 30 million Americans who suffer from eating disorders.
But she says eating disorders affect all Americans, regardless of age, race, gender, or sexual orientation.
"There are a number of men in our society who also struggle from eating disorders, but they don't always seek care," she said.
May 2nd is Eating Recovery Day, a perfect time, Jones says, to open a local conversation about eating disorders as a psychological condition.
She points out that eating disorders have affected some of the nation's biggest celebrities, from Paula Abdul to seventies singer Karen Carpenter.
FOR MORE INFORMATION: https://www.eatingrecoverycenter.com/