Eating Disorders: Working together to support our teens, friends and family members
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Talking about eating disorders can be a scary, uncomfortable and an overwhelming topic.
This is complicated because of the ideal body image portrayed in social media, television, edited selfies, magazines, peers/friends and different family member’s opinions and perspectives.
According to the National Institute of Mental Health, eating disorders affect people from all over the world irrespective of a person’s age, body weight, gender, race/ethnic or cultural background.
The exact cause of eating disorders is not entirely known; however, it might be caused by genetic, biological, behavioral, psychological or social factors.
Eating disorders may be identified during childhood years, and are common among teenagers, young adults or people 40 and above.
Eating disorders include: anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, binge-eating disorder, and avoidant restrictive food intake disorder.
According to Dr. Albers at the Cleveland Clinic eating disorders are not always about food.
Food might be one of the symptoms that a person is portraying and the person might not know that he/she/they have an eating disorder.
Eating disorders could be as a result of:
Stress, Depression, anxiety.
Medical related issues or other co – occurring disorders like Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and substance use.
Trauma
Body image, (being uncomfortable with one’s body image or not liking a specific part of your body)
Dieting or turning to food as a coping skill to calm us down, and eventually this gets out of control.
The good news is people recover from eating disorders.
We all have children, friends, family members or people who we know that are struggling with this issue and would benefit from seeking help from your health care provider.
Your provider might refer you to a qualified mental health professional, a psychiatrist, psychologist, a nutritionist, a family Therapist or might recommend group therapy or other support groups in the community.
The Campbell County Medical Group Kid Clinic provides primary medical care by advanced practice providers for children ages two weeks to 21 years old. The clinic sees patients with immediate needs, such as strep throat or the flu and provides primary and follow-up care for conditions requiring ongoing treatment. Counseling services are provided by counselors for a variety of issues such as depression, anxiety, substance abuse, divorce or parenting concerns, for children ages 4-21.
The Kid Clinic is a collaborative effort between Campbell County Health, Campbell County Medical Group and Campbell County School District to provide primary medical care, behavioral health and substance abuse counseling services.
By Jane King, MS, PPC, CCMG Kid Clinic.
Reference:
National Institute of Mental health: https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/eating-disorders
Eating Disorders: What You Need to Know with Dr. Susan Albers
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/podcasts/health-essentials/eating-disorders-what-you-need-to-know-with-dr-susan-albers
