About 10 Million Women Suffer from an Eating Disorder. Learn More About These Dangerous Illnesses.
Author, artist and songwriter Jenni Schaefer discusses some of the reasons a woman will develop an eating disorder and why she became an ambassador to the National Eating Disorders Association.
A woman binges and purges each night, yet no one-not even her husband of twenty years-knows. A high school student runs himself to exhaustion daily at track practice, but his coach doesn't suspect how dangerous his routine really is. A ten-year-old girl throws away her lunch everyday at school, and her mom doesn't know it. These are just some of the faces of eating disorders-suffering in silence day-by-day. It's time to talk about it, says Jenni Schaefer, author, artist and Ambassador to the National Eating Disorders Association.
CommitmentNow.com: About 10 million females and 1million males in the United States suffer from eating disorders, yet often their own families are unaware of their conditions. How do so many women and men hide their eating disorders?
Jenni Schaefer: Women and men who struggle with anorexia and bulimia are often in denial that they have a problem. So, they not only hide the illness from loved ones but also from themselves. When I was in denial from my own eating disorder, I actually believed that I was healthier than most. People told me that I looked great at such a thin weight and would even ask me, “How do you do it? How do you stay so thin?” Society essentially celebrates eating disordered behaviors like losing drastic amounts of weight and being excessively thin. This means that people, like myself, can struggle with food and body image issues for a long time before anyone at all notices.
CommitmentNow.com: Eating disorders are serious, life–threatening illnesses, yet there is still a social stigma attached to them. Why is that?
Jenni: Many people still falsely believe that eating disorders are a choice, that they are an attention-getting illness by someone who just wants to be thin. Nothing could be further from the truth. An eating disorder is a serious, life-threatening illness that is not truly about food and weight. Eating disorders are about real underlying issues.
People don’t choose to have eating disorders, but they do make choices throughout recovery to get better. In fact, I believe that people can fully recover from eating disorders to live normal, happy lives. That is the main reason I wrote my second book, Goodbye Ed, Hello Me: Recover from Your Eating Disorder and Fall in Love with Life.
CommitmentNow.com: Eating disorders often affect girls before they hit puberty! What are some of the warning signs that a girl or woman has an eating disorder?
Jenni: Some of the obvious warning signs revolve around food and weight – dramatic decrease or increase in weight, constant fluctuations in weight, hoarding food, appearance of many food wrappers in the trashcan (signifying someone might be binging), going to the restroom immediately after meals (a possible sign of purging), and making excuses to skip meals. But other warning signs are not specifically related to food and weight – isolation, moodiness, depression, poor sleeping habits, “chipmunk cheeks” (swollen glands due to vomiting), and hair loss.
CommitmentNow.com: What causes a woman to fall victim to an eating disorder?
Jenni: Eating disorders are biopsychosocial illnesses. Researchers often say that genetics load the gun, but the environment pulls the trigger. In other words, women and men are born with certain personality traits like compulsivity, perfectionism, and high anxiety that can quickly become an eating disorder when placed in the right environment.
For me, the main part of my environment that led to anorexia and bulimia was living in a culture that promotes excessive thinness. (i.e. When my perfectionism began to focus on society’s thin ideal, the perfect storm was created for anorexia, which ultimately led to bulimia.)
CommitmentNow.com: You are an ambassador to the National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA). What lead to your becoming involved with this association?
Jenni: After my first book, Life Without Ed, was released, I decided to attend NEDA’s annual conference, which happened to be in Atlanta that year. I fell in love with the organization and wanted to do whatever I could to help. I wish a resource like NEDA had existed when I first struggled.
CommitmentNow.com: What kind of work does NEDA do?
Jenni: NEDA is a non-profit organization that provides resources to sufferers, loved ones, and professionals who treat eating disorders. NEDA’s Information and Referral Helpline (800-931-2237) is one of the most incredible resources for anyone needing help. For more information, please visit www.MyNeda.org.
CommitmentNow.com: Where can we find out more about eating disorders?
Jenni: Visit my website: www.jennischaefer.com. Please be sure to visit the “Ed Links” (http://www.jennischaefer.com/goodbye-ed-links.htm) page that includes a wide variety of information about eating disorders and recovery. You will find information about the newly created Binge Eating Disorder Association (BEDA), treatment centers like Center For Change (where I consult), and Eating Disorders Anonymous (EDA), which is a free support group.
Jenni Schaefer is an internationally known author and speaker whose work has helped change the face of recovery from eating disorders. Her appearances on shows like Dr. Phil and Entertainment Tonight, in publications ranging from Cosmopolitan to The New York Times, and before live audiences have brought a world of hope to men and women seeking real solutions.
With her latest book, Goodbye Ed, Hello Me: Recover from Your Eating Disorder and Fall in Love with Life (McGraw-Hill), Jenni takes readers a giant step further on her journey and theirs, outlining the path from recovery to liberation. Building on the foundation of her breakthrough best-seller, Life Without Ed: How One Woman Declared Independence from Her Eating Disorder and How You Can Too, it is an immensely practical guide, written with Jenni's characteristic warmth and good humor as she shares her experience in light of research and a sound behavioral approach.
Visit Jenni at www.jennischaefer.com
