Ditz

Issue date: 11/2/09 Section: True Story

Media Credit: Emma Ceddia Media Pressures

My best friend was admitted to the hospital three days before Valentine's Day-but she didn't have a problem. She told me over the phone that her blood sugar was half of what it was supposed to be and that she felt faint, dizzy, and sick. But really, she didn't have a problem. In fact, she had it all "under control."

In normal situations, that optimistic tone would be comforting. But this situation was far from normal, and my best friend's sense of calmness made me want to run for the car keys. While she didn't think she had a problem, I knew-she was anorexic.

The irony of the situation: the feeling of control can control you. But the problem-it usually takes too long to realize that. And that time lapse can have devastating consequences.

Major magazines like Teen Vogue and US Weekly publish story after story about the problem of ever-thinning celebrities and eating disorders running rampant
through the cultural arena. Unfortunately, however, these mediums never quite have the full story, nor do they set a good example for dealing with these issues. It's one thing to joke about telling Lindsay Lohan or Nicole Richie they should go eat a steak. It's quite another thing to have that conversation with your best friend.

That was the dilemma I found myself in three days before Valentine's Day, two hours and an IM or text away from this friend I cared about so much. It was a dilemma I had been in for over a year and, unfortunately, I'm not the only one dealing with a situation like this.


Eating disorders are on the rise among teenage girls and women into their early twenties. And though the statistics often mention women, they aren't the only demographic hit by this. Men of the same age groups face these same problems.

All too often, we are warned about the emaciated bodies featured in movies and magazine articles and neglect to mention the girl in our math class, the boy we pass in the hall every day, our best friends and family members. We forget that there are wrestlers who have to obsess over the numbers on the scale to fit into certain weight classes. We ignore that girl who doesn't eat at lunch because she forgot her sandwich at home-again. We don't notice our aunt who spends all night at the gym after not eating all day.

Even more disconcerting is our tendency to patch up the problem with a quick fix when we do notice it. Insurance companies cover a maximum of 30 days of inpatient treatment for those diagnosed with anorexia and/or bulimia. For a problem that is almost always years in the making, a mere 30 days sets patients up for certain failure. Those with eating disorders often relate to members of AA-they will always be an addict in remission, grappling with this problem for the remainder of their life.

It sounds like this diagnosis of the problem is grim, and it is. However, it is not only those struggling with the disease who suffer. The South Carolina Department of Mental Health estimates that one-half of Americans personally know someone with an eating disorder. The study goes on to state that eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of any mental illness. In addition to a potential risk of suicide in anyone with a depressive illness, the heart is among the major organs principally affected by malnutrition, contributing to the high rate of heart disease deaths in the U.S.

One would think that with statistics this dark, the American public would be outraged at the lack of action being taken to solve this problem. However, that outrage is sorely lacking, replaced either by condemnation of those with the disease, or ignoring them completely. Perhaps due to this attitude, the same South Carolina study comes to this conclusion: one in ten people with an eating disorder will receive treatment and eighty percent of those treated will not be treated sufficiently.

Do the math: only two percent of those suffering from an eating disorder receive sufficient treatment. For a country that claims to be on the forefront of medical innovation and human rights, it's hard to believe more people aren't appalled.

Media Credit: Emma Ceddia The Idea of "Perfection"

Less than 24 hours after my friend called, she was released from the hospital. With food in her stomach (consumed under the watchful eye of a nurse) the institution concluded she was recovered and released her, despite the fact that her medical records clearly stated that she had admitted to grappling with anorexia nervosa.

Her first action upon release was to go work out. In order to compensate for the calories consumed under pressure, she did not eat for the remainder of the day. Her parents still don't know that she was ever admitted.

I have asked her why she doesn't look for help if she knows she has a problem. Her answer is simple and stunning: there is no problem. Mistakes like the hospital, she said, don't happen very often. She has more control than that.

But after one night in a hospital, what else would we expect her to say? And what should I have said? No one ever provides us with a handbook for saving the people we love from disasters of their own making. Regardless, we struggle to save them. However, the efforts of an untrained individual, no matter how caring, are nothing more than the same temporary fix employed by the hospital. Trained professionals are the only people who can provide a lasting cure and pave the way to a full recovery. As with any disease, some who suffer from eating disorders may never recover. That does not give us a free pass to neglect those who could.

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