Eating disorders, including anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge-eating disorder, are serious mental health conditions that can have devastating effects on a person’s overall health. According to the American Psychiatric Association, eating disorders affect around 5% of our population at any given moment.

Eating disorders are one of the most stereotyped mental health issues. Society has an idea of who develops an eating disorder: young women, driven by a desire to conform to beauty standards. In reality, anyone can suffer from an eating disorder.

Purging behaviors are characteristics of two eating disorders, bulimia nervosa and purging disorder. This behavior can have devastating consequences on both physical and mental health. However, with the right support and treatment, recovery is possible.

It’s impossible to escape social media nowadays. So much of our lives have become entwined with it—we shop, talk to friends and family, and creatively express and promote ourselves online. However, researchers are now finding the many complex links between social media use and mental health issues, particularly eating disorders.

Eating disorders in teens are far too common. Studies show that up to 10% of people will develop an eating disorder at any point in their life, and the rates of eating disorders in adolescents doubled after the onset of the pandemic.

You’ve seen it in movies: the girl gets dumped and eats a tub of ice cream while crying. Someone accuses the overweight character of “eating their feelings.” But emotional eating isn’t just a plot point in Hollywood. Emotional eating is using food to calm or distract from emotions like stress, sadness, and pain.

Eating disorders have devastating consequences. They can permanently damage the brain and body. In fact, they’re one of the deadliest mental illnesses—getting help is the most important thing you can do. While it’s a long journey, healing is possible.

The pandemic affected pretty much every aspect of our lives, and researchers are still studying the extent of its damage. In addition to the effects on the body such as heart issues and chronic conditions, COVID severely impacted people’s mental health. Studies are beginning to show just how harmful COVID has been for those suffering with eating disorders.

Using food to celebrate or cheer yourself isn’t always a bad thing. After all, we have cake on our birthdays, eat ice cream during breakups, or cook our mom’s famous dish when we’re lonely. But if you’re turning to food any time you feel an uncomfortable emotion, that behavior can become compulsive and could lead to disordered eating. Thankfully, there are ways you can learn to be more intentional about eating to avoid feeling out of control.

Eating disorders do more than just damage the body. More research is showing the extent to which they harm the brain. They’re also not just about restricting or choosing not to eat food—they’re deeply rooted in psychological and emotional struggles. Eating disorders can damage many bodily processes and reinforce brain changes.

Eating disorders are all too common, affecting millions of people every day. But despite how common they are, they’re still hard to talk about. There’s shame and stigma attached to eating disorders, and if you’ve been struggling with one you’ve most likely been hiding it from others. But sharing your struggles with someone you trust is an essential step towards recovery.

Everywhere we look, thinness is promoted as the beauty standard. For teenagers, this bombardment of thin social media influencers, pop stars, and actors is happening at crucial time in their brain development. As a parent or someone who works with teens, it’s important to be able to recognize the signs of an eating disorder.

Recognizing the signs of eating disorders is an important first step in helping those who are struggling. By understanding how complicated eating disorders are and who they affect, we can work towards creating a society that fosters positive body image and healthy relationships with food.

Deciding to seek help for an eating disorder is almost never an easy task. People suffering from eating disorders often feel deep shame and try to hide them from those that know them best.

Eating disorders aren’t always what’s shown in the media. The stereotype, that eating disorders mostly affect young middle-class women and girls, simply isn’t true. Millions of people from every race, class, age group, and gender suffer from eating disorders.

Eating disorders are about more than just food—they’re a complex set of mental health disorders that focus on food intake, body image, and control. They’re also more common than we think. Studies estimate that at least 28 million Americans will struggle with an eating disorder at some point in their lives.

Eating disorders are unfortunately quite common and difficult to talk about. Eating disorders can affect anyone, regardless of their age, gender, or background, despite the stereotype that they mostly affect young women. They often stem from complex physical, emotional, and psychological factors.