Every 62 Minutes Someone Dies from an Eating Disorder

Someone You May Know Dies Every 62 Minutes from an Eating Disorder: Anorexia, Bulimia or Compulsive Overeating!

Eating Disorders: Anorexia, Bulimia, Compulsive Overeating is Closer Than You Think…

It is sad to share this with you but I feel it is my duty as this month is Eating Disorder Awareness. A young woman dies from anorexia and bulimia yesterday and she is not an anomaly, it is more common than you may think. She happens to have lived less than 30 minutes from my home and I never heard from her or met her before. Over 30 million people suffer from some form of eating disorder and every 62 minutes at least one person dies as a direct result.

Many people do not realize the seriousness of the DIS-EASE until it hits home. Know that you already have people in your lives that are battling an eating disorder that aren’t publicly sharing their journey it can be you’re sister, brother, mother, friend, cousin, aunt, even grandma.

I for one walked this path from the ages of 17-30 years old. I didn’t start out choosing it but it was one I learned quickly and needed help to stop. I was a compulsive over-eater, binge eater and bulimic. I kept it a secret until I lost so much weight, my potassium got too low and had a sudden heart attack at the age of 18. I fortunately didn’t die, but it was by no means my efforts. My parents did everything in their power to help me. I did everything in my power to keep it a secret and lied to them and everyone else to stay in the disease. I spent 13 years in and out of hospitals 6 times, tricked every doctor into letting me leave knowing full well that I really wasn’t healthy enough to get out and would only repeat the insanity. I was tossed around to different treatment centers, psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, the best of the best, but still I found ways to stay sick. It is an insidious DIS-EASE. Eating disorders are about feelings, not food. It is usually the very bright capable ones that have the hardest time and fall into the disease because no matter what they do it will never be good enough. I fortunately found the way out, but many do not. I finally decided to go from feeling F.I.N.E (F’d Up, Insecure, Neurotic and Emotional) to being FAB (Fabulous Awesome Beautiful). It took changing my neuro associations to the programs I was running so I can find peace with myself.

People are struggling every day with eating disorders and they are not prejudice to who can have them.

They show up in a myriad of ways but the most common are:

• Anorexia Nervosa where they starve themselves, restrict intake and feel themselves unworthy of food.
• Bulimia Nervosa where they binge and purge abnormally large quantities of food in a short period of time, followed by purging to avoid the weight gain. Challenge can go undiagnosed for years because most of them are average weight or about 10lbs overweight. They could consume thousands of calories in a single meal and eliminate it to start again. I got to the point where I was consuming 18,000 calories a day.
• Binge Eating Disorder “BED” commonly known as compulsive overeating, where they go on sporadic insane binges when you are alone eating everything in sight and never feeling physically hungry. It is an unstoppable feeling of losing control. They use food to stuff their emotions pain or pleasure. Men and women suffering usually struggle with emotions of depression, disgust, shame, or guilt. The negative feelings that usually accompany binge eating often lead him or her to continue to use food to cope; thus creating a vicious cycle. What we do privately shows up publicly.

Although these conditions are treatable, the symptoms and consequences can be injurious and deadly if not appropriately addressed. Eating disorders frequently show up alongside other mental health issues, such as depression, alcohol or drug abuse and anxiety disorders. People who suffer from eating disorders also risk serious, and sometimes fatal, health complications, including serious heart conditions and kidney failure. This is why it’s particularly important for eating disorders to be recognized, diagnosed and treated.

The reasons for the occurrence of eating disorders can vary from effects of media, peer pressure among friends, family, social and cultural situations, childhood traumas, body dissatisfaction, low self-esteem, difficulty coping with feelings.

Make sure if you find out your loved one is suffering get them the help of a professional that has walked the walk and talks the talk. Traditional means weren’t the answer for me and with the statistics of so many people dying to the tune to 24 people a day we need to help them get the proper care.

Call me or call somebody, but help save a life today! I have helped thousands of people over the years, but we can’t help those we don’t know about. Secrets kill the people holding them!!! Be a LIFESAVER!