JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Sunday marked the last day of National Eating Disorders Awareness Week, but health officials say lifesaving information should be remembered year-round.
The number of people who have or had an eating disorder is devastating. In fact, anorexia has the highest mortality rate of any mental illness.
The National Eating Disorders Association, known as NEDA, reported that roughly 9% of the U.S. population will experience an eating disorder at some point in their life.
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And eating disorders can affect anyone no matter their age, race, gender, or body type. Health experts said understanding the facts and putting a spotlight on what is needed will save lives.
When it comes to the battle against eating disorders, health experts say knowledge is power.
“More than 28 million individuals in America will at some point in their life have an eating disorder,” Nicole Davidson-Harshaw, a licensed mental health counselor from LJD Jewish Family & Community Services, said.
On Sunday, she outlined the most common types of eating disorders, including:
- Anorexia
- Bulimia
- Binge eating
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Davidson-Harshaw said although this issue does not discriminate, her office looks at particular groups, like athletes and veterans.
“Our veterans really do have a lot of psychological trauma when they have given that service to the military. And so that coping mechanism to deal with that psychological distress is very real for them,” Davidson-Harshaw said.
With it being National Eating Disorders Awareness Week, NEDA spread the word through information, but also through two questions:
“Did you know that only one in five people with eating disorders seek treatment from someone who specializes in eating disorders?” and “Did you know that eating disorders research receives less federal funding than research for many other serious mental and physical illnesses?”
With that last question, NEDA goes further showing for each individual with an eating disorder diagnosis, the federal research funding equates to just $0.73 per person while it’s almost $87.00 for schizophrenia and $88.00 for Alzheimer’s.
Davidson-Harshaw said if someone you know is struggling, rule number one is to help.
“There needs to be a lack of judgment. Having a safe space for someone to feel like they can be supported,” Davidson-Harshaw said.
Davidson-Harshaw said another common misconception is that this only happens to women. She said men can be vulnerable to an eating disorder as well.
Other barriers against treatment include the lack of eating disorder specialists, the cost of treatment, and just having no health insurance.