there are 3 main kinds of eating disorders: anorexia, bulimia, and binge eating disorder. there are also supposedly a million other types of disordered eating behaviors but my guess is that most of them Are within one or more of those three groups. thats just my guess...
have you ever wondered what kinds of things you shouldn't say to a person with an eating disorder? well, here's a couple of them. by the way, I am speaking from my experiences and the experiences of SOME of the people I have talked to In the past. if you are reading this and you know someone with an eating disorder, keep these things in mind but you don't need to walk on eggshells around he/she. sooner or later they are going to have to deal with triggers but please just be cautious.
1) "your not underweight so your not in danger and/or struggling with an eating disorder." First of all, that's not true. the STEREOTYPICAL eating disordered patient has anorexia and is just skin and bones. when someone thinks of eating disorders, the first thing they think of is anorexia. however, a lot of the time, a person is not underweight but may still be in the danger zone. from my own experience, someone saying something like this means that I'm not doing a good enough job of starving myself, so I need to try harder. I need to more to get to my goal weight even if I haven't eaten for days. logically, it doesn't make sense but that is where an eating disordered mind is going to go.
2) "wow, you look great!" I understand that not everyone is aware of people tht have eating disorders and I don't expect everyone to think everyone may be struggling. however, if you know or think a person may have one, please try to not say stuff like that. for me, its sorta like telling me I was fat before I started. yea, yea, I know it's totally the opposite of number 1, but it still feels like your saying "you look great now, wait until u lose even more weight!" .
3) don't mention anything about what that person is eating. i can only speak for me, but i am always fighting it every time I eat. it means that I am going against what my disordered mind is telling me to do and quite often, that's not easy. when someone is more recovered, this may not bother them. but if they are like me, and they are still struggling, this may not be the right subject during conversation.
4) don't try not to talk about diets that you or someone you know are trying. like I said, there's no need to feel like your walking on eggshells all the time, but this is definitely a tough subject for anyone struggling with an ed. for me, it's hard to realize that I'm no longer able to do "healthy diets." My kind of diet is unhealthy and could kill me if I don't get a handle on it. when I hear people talking about diets, I automatically think "oh I could try that" ... but I can't. diets are a no-go when your trying to recover from an Ed. talking about it just makes Ed that more appealing, for me anyways.
I'm not sure if that would help anyone. everyone is different and everyone has there own triggers. people get triggered different ways. if you are reading this and trying to help someone with an eating disorder, just try to be there for them. make sure they know you care and help when you can but ultimately they have to make the decision for themselves.
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