Being in recovery from eating disorder can be a scary and isolating experience. Hannah Grice struggles with anorexia and just started her first week of college. She describes what the experience was like, and how she is staying on track with her recovery at TheMighty.com:
If you asked the average person to explain what an eating disorder is, they’d probably tell you that it’s a condition in which people starve themselves, binge and purge, avoid meals, and avoid social situations centered around meals. They’d probably also say that those who engage in these behaviors struggle with distorted body image and are afraid of gaining weight and of being fat.
Nicole Cowper, who began struggling with anorexia at a young age, has written an insightful and moving article about her treatment, her setbacks, and the lessons she’s learned from battling her eating disorder.
Recent changes to the health insurance requirements under the Affordable Care Act have lead to a boom in the number of eating disorder treatment centers across the nation. Some estimates say that the number has grown from 22 centers nationwide to 75 in the last decade.
Eating disorders—from anorexia, bulimia, and orthorexia to binge eating disorder — are extremely complex conditions that are caused by a variety of biological and social factors. A combination of genetics, temperament and personality, traumatic experiences, societal pressures, and environmental factors each play a role to varying degrees for each individual.