Within the next hour, someone in this country will lose their life as the direct result of an eating disorder. In fact, the family of eight mental illnesses grouped under this classification is statistically the second most deadly type of mental illness, costing not only one life every 52 minutes, but also significant costs to their community.
Like many mental illnesses, one of the easiest ways of determining if someone you love needs help lies in observing their relationship with food. It is not as simple as seeing if someone is losing weight because less than 6% of people with eating disorders are underweight. Depending on the diagnosis, the issue may hinge on what they eat, how they eat, or even when they eat. But a mental health practitioner will focus on how the person feels about their relationship with food. And as an outside observer, you may not understand their deeper motivations, which is even more reason to speak to a professional if there is anything that concerns you about their eating habits.
Eating disorders appear to stem heavily from genetics, and they do not discriminate based on gender, racial background, or body type. And while they frequently affect those in their teens or early adulthood, they may appear at any stage in life. With such high stakes, if you have any reason to believe that someone in your life is developing or living with such a disorder, please reach out to your local mental health organization for an initial conversation as quickly as possible.
