I remember in a 9th-grade health class learning about eating disorders. I gave a presentation on bulimia that year also. Maybe you can tell by now that my interest in eating disorders has existed for a long time. What I learned in health class that year left out a large population of people struggling with eating disorders, and when I think about it now it honestly crushes me.
Eating disorders don’t just impact young, white women
If I could sum up what I was taught that year in two sentences it’s this: White women from teens to college-aged, struggle with either starving themselves or throwing up after they eat. If you have anorexia, you will be severely underweight.
Wrong.
It devastates me to think of how many people in that class themselves or someone they loved didn’t feel included because it did not describe their symptoms.
I cannot even begin to tell you how many people that definition excludes.
Eating disorders exist in every age, gender, and race.
Yes women struggle with eating disorders and this is who I work with but men also experience eating disorders. Eating disorders aren’t just for white women. They are found among different races and ethnicities with both people that are quite young, and some that are older. Eating disorders don’t discriminate.
You cannot tell someone has an eating disorder based on what they look like
We have been led to believe that in order to have an eating disorder you are drastically underweight and lose your period. Here’s the truth, less than 6 percent of people with eating disorders are underweight. This means that 94 percent of people with eating disorders are in the “normal” weight range or “above normal”. The women I work with that have eating disorders or disordered eating, aren’t underweight most of the time. The majority of the time! I have said it here before and I will say it again… People of any and all weights can have an eating disorder, and it can be deadly without it looking like it is.
Weight COULD BE an indicator of an eating disorder but it’s not the most important one.
It’s one of many. It’s the behaviors that matter. It’s the emotional and mental struggle that matters. It’s the rigidity, the need for control, the hurt and pain. That’s what matters.
I don’t want you to even hesitate to reach out for help because of what you think you look like or what you think you’re supposed to weigh to get help. I pinky promise you that I don’t care what you weigh nor am I even using weight to decide if you have disordered eating.
People with binge eating disorder may not believe their eating disorder is as valid as others.
Many of the women I work with struggle with binge eating, and they are suffocating in shame. To them, they didn’t get the “good eating disorder,” and what they don’t realize is that binge eating occurs as a result of restriction. It has nothing to do with self-control but because it’s your brain's natural response to being deprived of food for so long. Your eating disorder deserves treatment and helps like any other eating disorder.
Eating disorder therapy in Utah can help
I imagine thinking about how to overcome your eating disorder on your own feels overwhelming. It’s difficult to try and do this alone, and you don’t have to. You truly deserve to be at peace with food and your body. You don’t have to keep feeling guilty about eating, and you don’t have to keep trying to shrink your body. Eating disorder therapy can help you make peace with food and your body. It doesn’t matter how bad you think your eating disorder is or isn’t, counseling can help you stop the cycle that you’re in. It’s hard to imagine life without your eating disorder, but I promise you can be happier than you’ve ever been without it.
Begin working with an eating disorder therapist in Utah
You can let your eating disorder go, but I know it’s hard to do it alone. This Utah County Counseling Clinic has an eating disorder therapist who specializes in treating eating disorders. To begin therapy, follow the steps below:
Meet with a caring therapist
Begin eating disorder recovery
Online Eating Disorder Therapy in Utah
I know how important it is to have access to an eating disorder therapist who specializes in eating disorders and knows how to help you through eating disorder recovery. I realize Utah has many parts of the state without an eating disorder therapist, and this is why I offer eating disorder therapy through online therapy in Utah.
Online counseling means that no matter where you are in Utah, I can help you. This means if you are located in Heber, Logan, Salt Lake City, St. George, Cedar City, and more, we can work together.
Other mental health services provided by Maple C/anyon Therapy
Eating disorder therapy isn’t the only mental health service provided by this Provo Utah Area Counseling Center. Other mental health services provided by Maple Canyon Therapy include binge eating disorder treatment, anxiety therapy, body image therapy, birth trauma, and EMDR therapy in Utah.
About the Author
Ashlee Hunt is a licensed clinical social worker in the state of Utah and owner of Maple Canyon Therapy outside of Provo, Utah. Ashlee graduated from Southern Utah University with a bachelor’s in psychology and a bachelor’s in family life and human development. Her master’s degree is in social work from Utah State University. Ashlee has worked at an eating disorder treatment center in all levels of care but has enjoyed working in outpatient most. She enjoys helping women get the life they deserve and break free from their eating disorders. Outside of therapy, Ashlee enjoys exploring Utah and has enjoyed Tibble Creek up American Fork Canyon.