This week is National Eating Disorder Awareness Week. Whether you know someone battling an eating disorder or not, National Eating Disorder Awareness Week is the perfect time to educate yourself about what eating disorders are, who they affect, and where to get help.

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 food she consumes through purging or excessive exercise. Eunice Bassler, a senior lecturer for the Food Science and Human Nutrition program at ISU, explains 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 ones who diagnose eating disorders, and unfortunately, they are diagnosing them increasingly often. According to Michelle Roling, a co-Coordinator for Eating Disorder Treatment and Certified Eating Disorder Specialist at ISU, “No one is immune. Eating disorders do not discriminate”. That is to say that any age, any race, or any gender is susceptible to an eating disorder. Roling adds that in the past four 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.

So what do you do if someone you know has an eating disorder? The first step would be to support them because what he or she is going through is difficult. A freshman describes her battle with bulimia, “It consumed my every thought”. 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 do. “I felt constantly nervous. It was exhausting,” she explains. She 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 you know someone who you think might be suffering from an eating disorder, you can refer her to ISU Student Counseling Services. They will put you into contact with someone who can help. This freshman reminds us though, “It’s something that never really leaves you”. But with support from friends, family and professionals, it is possible to overcome and eating disorder.