Bringing awareness to complicated disorder

 

National Eating Disorder Awareness week brings attention to the disorder and help for the one million Canadians who suffer from it. 

Eating disorders include anorexia nervosa, which is a form of starvation, and bulimia nervosa, which is binge eating followed by purging. 

Eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of any psychiatric. Ten per cent of individuals with the disorder die from it, including those who seek treatment, according to Luciana Rosu-Sieza. Rosu-Sieza is the executive director of the Bulimia Anorexia Nervosa association in Windsor, where she has worked for 16 years. 

“Nearly one person dies every hour as a direct result of an eating disorder. In the Windsor-Essex area, 8,000 to 11,000 people suffer from eating disorders,” said Rosu-Sieza. “Basically we would like to reduce or end stigma around eating disorders so that more people come and get help.”

One misconception surrounding eating disorders is that is it always about weight loss, according to Katherine Thompson, an employee at the National Eating Disorder Information Centre in Toronto, whose services are used by 30,000 people a year.

“There are genetic factors, psychological and social factors. You could say culture could have an impact on one person’s eating disorder, but it might not play a part for someone else. It’s individual for each person,” said Thompson. “There are also things like mental illness that can contribute.” 

At the time of a BANA’s client first assessment, 31 per cent of clients struggle with thoughts of suicide. Sixty-eight percent of clients’ self-report additional mental health diagnosis such as depression, OCD, PTSD and suicide, according to BANA’s website. 

Eating disorders do not discriminate on who can develop them, but social values can make it harder for men to reach out for help, according to Mary Kaye Lucier, a social worker in Windsor for over 25 years.

“It doesn’t matter what social class you’re from, or any other group. Really anyone can have an eating disorder,” said Lucier. “Just the very fact that society doesn’t look at favourably at men asking for help, that makes it difficult for them. Help is available for both genders, so I wouldn’t say it’s more difficult to find the help, but it may be more difficult for a male to ask for help.” 

The average age BANA service recipient is 34 years old, and 56.7 per cent are diagnosed with bulimia nervosa, followed by binge eating disorder at 30. 8 per cent, according to BANA’s website. 

According to Rosu-Sieza, other than dramatic weight loss, a few of the long-term effects of eating disorders can be slowed digestive system, increase risk of heart failure, improper brain function, dry skin, and inadequate nutrition absorption. 

“Depending on the treatment modality and the severity of the eating disorder, 80 per cent can recover,” said Rosu-Sieza.