NEDA TOOLKIT for Educators
Common myths about eating disorders
Even for professionals who have been treating them for years, eating disorders can be baffling and confusing
illnesses. Adding to this confusion is the fact that eating disorders are surrounded by a large number of myths and
misconceptions. It can be difficult for some people to take an eating disorder diagnosis seriously. This section will
help dispel some of the most common misunderstandings about eating disorders and those affected by them. You
may wish to print out this section and share it with other teachers and educators.
Eating disorders are a choice. I just need to tell
my student to snap out of it.
Eating disorders are actually complex medical and
psychiatric illnesses that patients don’t choose
and parents don’t cause. The American Psychiatric
Association classifies five different types of eating
disorders in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, 5 th
Edition (DSM-5): anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa,
binge eating disorder, avoidant restrictive food intake
disorder (ARFID) and other specified feeding and eating
disorders (OSFED). Several decades of genetic research
have shown that eating disorders are strongly heritable
and frequently co-occur with other mental illnesses
like major depression, social anxiety disorder, and
obsessive-compulsive disorder.
Doesn’t everyone have an eating disorder
these days?
Although our current culture is highly obsessed with
food and weight, and disordered patterns of eating
are very common, clinical eating disorders are less so.
Those with disordered eating behaviors may engage in
similar behaviors as those with clinical eating disorders,
but disordered eating is distinguishable from a clinical
eating disorder by the lower frequency and severity
of the disordered behavior and symptoms. However,
disordered eating behaviors should not be taken lightly;
disordered eating is problematic, can be a source of
distress, and may lead to a clinical eating disorder.
When researchers followed a group of 496 adolescent
girls until they were 20, they found that 5.2% of the
girls met criteria for DSM-V anorexia, bulimia, or binge
eating disorder. When the researchers included OSFED
criteria, a total of 13.2% of the girls had suffered from
a DSM-V eating disorder by age 20. The consequences
of eating disorders can be life-threatening, and many
individuals find that stigma against mental illness (and
eating disorders in particular) can obstruct a timely
diagnosis and adequate treatment.
Eating disorders are a sociocultural disease.
The causes of an eating disorder are complex. Current
thinking holds that eating disorders are caused by a
combination of biological, psychological, sociocultural,
and environmental factors. Sociocultural factors,
such as an emphasis on a thin body ideal, can create
a culture in which disordered eating attitudes and
behaviors are reinforced. Environmental factors, such
as bacterial and viral infections and childhood teasing
and bullying, may also play a role. Additionally, there
may be a genetic component, as there are biological
predispositions that make individuals vulnerable to
developing an eating disorder. Eating disorders are
complex diseases with multifaceted causes; anyone
struggling with an eating disorder should be treated
by a trained professional in order to ensure that
all causational factors — biological, psychological,
sociocultural and environmental — are appropriately
addressed. It’s just an eating disorder. That can’t be a big
deal. Eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of
any psychiatric illness. Up to 20% of individuals with
chronic anorexia nervosa will die as a result of their
illness. Community studies of anorexia, bulimia, and
other specified feeding and eating disorders (OSFED)
show that all eating disorders have similar mortality
rates. Of the causes of death for individuals with eating
disorders, suicide is one of the most common. Other
causes include medical complications from binge
eating, purging, starvation, and over-exercise. People
who struggle with eating disorders also have a severely
impacted quality of life, oftentimes leaving sufferers
friendless and absent from a real life for many years.
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