At The Meadows Ranch, we often talk about body image as it relates to eating disorders and eating disorder treatment. But what exactly does it mean?
By its definition, body image is the subjective picture or mental image a person has of their body. In other words, your body image is how you see yourself or how you picture yourself in your mind. Overall, body image refers to a person’s emotional attitudes, beliefs and perceptions of their body.
A Message About The Need To Educate Health Care Providers About Eating Disorders
About a month ago I was presented with the opportunity to join the business development team for The Meadows Ranch. The idea of representing one of the world’s most well known eating disorder treatment facilities, helping to educate the public about the seriousness and lethality of these disorders and assisting struggling women and girls to find the much needed treatment they deserve overwhelmed me with excitement. This job isn’t a job, it’s a heart mission for me.
For many individuals seeking to overcome an eating disorder, a primary obstacle may be learning to trust others under such challenging conditions. Often, these individuals find the idea of allowing themselves to be vulnerable, letting go of their fears, and letting their guard down to be extremely fear inducing. They may believe that they will “lose control” if they allow their thoughts and feelings to become exposed. So instead, of using self-disclosure to elicit support, they build a wall of silence around themselves to keep secret their inner most thoughts and emotions.
You may think that you can identify who has an eating disorder just by looking at them, but you would be mistaken. Eating disorders affect far more people than you would assume, and not every individual suffering appears in the stereotypical, underweight manner than you may have imagined.
It is estimated that approximately 7 million women of every shape and size in America suffer from an eating disorder. While the common misconception is that those with eating disorders are dramatically underweight, even individuals with anorexia may not show drastic signs of their eating disorder in their appearance.
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By Libby Neal, MA, LPC
Adolescents may be the most challenging time for parenting, perhaps second only to the “terrible twos.” Erik Erikson labeled the age between 13-18 as “role confusion.” This age group grapples with how they appear to others, how to prepare for their future and what career choice would be congruent with their ideal self-image.