Monday begins National Eating Disorder Awareness Week
FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WFFT) — Monday began National Eating Disorders Awareness Week.
NEDA Week is dedicated to recognizing the often unseen, deadly mental illness.
Chief Operations Officer at Farrington Specialty Centers says eating disorders have nothing to do with food itself.
“It’s not about food, and that’s very confusing to people. Eating disorders are a tool that people are using to deal with other things that are going on in their world,” Cattell said.
Brooke Farrington opened Farrington Specialty Centers after suffering from her disorder and seeing limited treatment options in Fort Wayne.
“This week is to really bring awareness to how common eating disorders are. That they can hide in plain sight, to really draw awareness for the community and the world that it’s not just happening to young adolescents and adults. It’s happening to everyone,”
She says a lot of the stereotypes that surround eating disorders are untrue
“Only six percent of people with diagnosable eating disorders are actually underweight. And so I think it’s the understanding that we think that like if we restrict for an example then of course people are going to lose. That may or may not be the case for lots of genetic factors and things like that,” Farington said.
Farrington herself had signs of an undiagnosed eating disorder at just 11 years old.
“I was a dancer and then I became a gymnast. And so I’m sure that environment played a role in that. I was also always anxious but it just looked like a lot of energy and really social so I don’t think that was understood as it is today,” Farrington said.
How we go about treating them can make or break someone’s ability to properly recover from it.
“Drawing attention to where they’re at on a weight chart is probably the worst thing you can do,” Cattell said.
“You have to address the underlying symptoms that lead to this. Eating disorders are really the perfect recipe. We have genetics that plays a big factor, we’ve got environment and maybe trauma. We’ve got temperament, personality, anxiety, depression and experiences we have had in our life,” Farrington said.
If you or someone you know might be experiencing symptoms of an eating disorder, you are strongly encouraged to seek help.
No matter how small the signs or symptoms might be it’s better to be safe than sorry.
If you’re interested in treating with Farrington Specialty Centers you can look into admission at FarringtonSpecialtyCenters.com.
Below are more resources for those who don’t live in the Fort Wayne area.
Eating Disorder Screening Tool
National Eating Disorder Helplines
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