Most people are familiar with the two main types of eating disorders: anorexia and bulimia. Anorexia involves limiting the amount of food one eats while bulimia involves ridding oneself of the eaten food through purging or excessive exercise.

With this week being National Eating Disorder Awareness Week, it is the perfect time for people to become educated about what eating disorders are, who they affect and where to get help.

Eunice Bassler, senior lecturer of food science and human nutrition, explained a common misconception about eating disorders. “Eating disorders are disordered eating patterns with a psychological component.”

Bassler most often deals with disordered eating patterns, which are simply irregular eating patterns. These do not get classified as eating disorders until a psychological condition, such as a distorted view of the body or a fear of gaining weight, is identified along with the disordered eating pattern.

Typically, doctors are the people who diagnose eating disorders, and they are diagnosing them increasingly often.

“No one is immune; eating disorders do not discriminate,” said Michelle Roling, co-coordinator for Eating Disorder Treatment and certified eating disorder specialist at Iowa State.

That is to say any age, any race or any gender is susceptible to an eating disorder. Roling added that in the past four years there has been an increase in males with eating disorders. Children as young as five years old have been diagnosed; elderly people are known to have eating disorders as well.

If people know of someone with an eating disorder, the first step would be to support them because what he or she is going through is difficult.

Allison, a freshman, described her battle with bulimia.

“It consumed my every thought,” she said. 

Something as simple as going out to dinner with friends was an ordeal. She would have to look up the menu ahead of time to see if there was anything she could eat.

“I felt constantly nervous,” she said. “It was exhausting.”

Allison got on the road to recovery when her doctor noticed the disorder. She worked with a counselor who dealt with eating disorders specifically. Now, she is healthy and says she did it by “managing my weight in a healthy way with tons of support from my family and friends.”

If students know someone who they think might be suffering from an eating disorder, they can refer that friend to Iowa State’s Student Counseling Services. They will put you into contact with someone who can help.

Allison reminds us, though, “It’s something that never really leaves you.”

But with support from friends, family and professionals, she said, it is possible to overcome an eating disorder.