At the turn of the new year, its not hard to find ads for gym memberships or fad diets promising to get folks to look their best, but that diet culture can have a devastating impact on those dealing with eating disorders. The National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders estimates nearly 1in 10 Americans will be affected by an eating disorder in their lifetime."There is probably someone in your life that is struggling with body image distress, disordered eating or an eating disorder," said mental health counselor Emily Compton. Compton says eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of any psychiatric illness.Psychologist Sally Thornton owns of Magnolia Center for Counseling and Eating Recovery in Winston-Salem and says new year's resolutions about diet don't make much sense considering winter is when humans naturally want to eat more."January is not a fresh start, it's the middle of the winter," Thornton said. "It's kind of setting people up for so-called failure."Thornton says comments about a person's physical appearance, whether it is positive or negative rarely help the person."Both of those are equally as damaging to a person who has an eating disorder because they are thinking about their body as messed up already," Thornton said. "Or comments about how much food they are or are not eating."Marissa Blizzard was officially diagnosed with anoxia, depression, anxiety and OCD in 2018, but says the feelings of discomfort stretch back even further. "I remember setting resolutions in middle and elementary school to lose weight and its just not something we need to focus on," Blizard said. "I was going to the bathroom every day in school because I couldn't sit there because all I was thinking was I have to move my body, I have to burn this."She says social media can have devastating effects and one of her first intervention strategies is to steer patients away from the edited photos they may see online. Thornton believes bodyweight measurements can often be seen as the end-all, be-all but sometimes can sometimes lead to health care providers focusing too much on physical health while forgetting about emotional and spiritual wellbeing. "Medical providers want to address that risk because it has to do with their expertise, but they often leave out the whole rest of the person," Thornton said. "Restrictive diets don't work. Because if they did thered only be one. And there are thousands of them. Its a massive billion-dollar industry that makes money from people failing.Providers have seen a sharp increase in eating disorders and other mental health diagnoses since the beginning of the pandemic. Compton has seen patients as young as 7 and even some who developed eating disorders in their 60s."Eating disorders do not discriminate based on race gender ethnicity age and that is a very common misconception," Compton said. "All bodies are different. Were not meant to look the same. So if were feeding our bodies to fit a certain look, were not listening to it. Were not trusting it and that fosters distrust that continues to grow.Blizard says the past two years have provided challenging moments, but shes "I just take a step back and am like 'I do have a body and it doesnt tell me who I am.' Its the least interesting thing about me, Blizard said. "No matter how your body looks its about who you are on the inside and that takes a lot for me to say because I've always based my worth on my body. But kind of taking my body away and going into body neutrality where my body just is can be really helpful.
At the turn of the new year, its not hard to find ads for gym memberships or fad diets promising to get folks to look their best, but that diet culture can have a devastating impact on those dealing with eating disorders.
The National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders estimates nearly 1in 10 Americans will be affected by an eating disorder in their lifetime.
"There is probably someone in your life that is struggling with body image distress, disordered eating or an eating disorder," said mental health counselor Emily Compton.
Compton says eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of any psychiatric illness.
Psychologist Sally Thornton owns of Magnolia Center for Counseling and Eating Recovery in Winston-Salem and says new year's resolutions about diet don't make much sense considering winter is when humans naturally want to eat more.
"January is not a fresh start, it's the middle of the winter," Thornton said. "It's kind of setting people up for so-called failure."
Thornton says comments about a person's physical appearance, whether it is positive or negative rarely help the person.
"Both of those are equally as damaging to a person who has an eating disorder because they are thinking about their body as messed up already," Thornton said. "Or comments about how much food they are or are not eating."
Marissa Blizzard was officially diagnosed with anoxia, depression, anxiety and OCD in 2018, but says the feelings of discomfort stretch back even further.
"I remember setting resolutions in middle and elementary school to lose weight and its just not something we need to focus on," Blizard said. "I was going to the bathroom every day in school because I couldn't sit there because all I was thinking was I have to move my body, I have to burn this."
She says social media can have devastating effects and one of her first intervention strategies is to steer patients away from the edited photos they may see online.
Thornton believes bodyweight measurements can often be seen as the end-all, be-all but sometimes can sometimes lead to health care providers focusing too much on physical health while forgetting about emotional and spiritual wellbeing.
"Medical providers want to address that risk because it has to do with their expertise, but they often leave out the whole rest of the person," Thornton said. "Restrictive diets don't work. Because if they did thered only be one. And there are thousands of them. Its a massive billion-dollar industry that makes money from people failing.
Providers have seen a sharp increase in eating disorders and other mental health diagnoses since the beginning of the pandemic. Compton has seen patients as young as 7 and even some who developed eating disorders in their 60s.
"Eating disorders do not discriminate based on race gender ethnicity age and that is a very common misconception," Compton said. "All bodies are different. Were not meant to look the same. So if were feeding our bodies to fit a certain look, were not listening to it. Were not trusting it and that fosters distrust that continues to grow.
Blizard says the past two years have provided challenging moments, but shes
"I just take a step back and am like 'I do have a body and it doesnt tell me who I am.' Its the least interesting thing about me, Blizard said. "No matter how your body looks its about who you are on the inside and that takes a lot for me to say because I've always based my worth on my body. But kind of taking my body away and going into body neutrality where my body just is can be really helpful.
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New Year's diet culture can have negative impact on those with eating disorders - WXII12 Winston-Salem
