People often came up against misunderstandings about eating disorders from their family, friends, the general public, the media and health professionals. Young people we spoke with described how incorrect ideas about what eating disorders were could make their experience worse:
• People who had an eating disorder themselves, family and friends sometimes being unable to recognise signs and symptoms of eating disorders.
• Feeling bad about themselves for not fitting with others’ ideas of what people with eating disorders look like.
• Being thought of as ‘vain’.
• Not being taken seriously by family and friends (or by themselves).
• Finding it difficult to talk to others about their thoughts and feelings.
• Finding it difficult to get access to services.
• Not being listened to or being taken seriously by health services.
• Being wrongly diagnosed.
The following are some of the most common myths young people wanted to clear up:
Myth 1) People with eating disorders are underweight
The most common myth that people talked about was the idea that eating disorders were only about weight and appearance. People had come across unhelpful ideas that people with eating problems were always underweight and obsessed by their appearance; or that people with eating disorders could only be “skinny”, “emotional teenage girls”. Jasmin stressed that eating disorders were first and foremost about coping with emotions and often linked to low self-esteem and depression. She described how she had struggled just as much when she was underweight as she did after she put some weight on, because the underlying issues were the same.
The idea that eating disorders were about wanting to lose weight, and looking a certain way, made it harder for some people to realise that they might have an eating problem. Maria had always thought that eating disorders affected “silly girls who fussed about their appearance”. Neither she nor her family realised at first that she was suffering from an eating disorder. People also said that the focus on weight in eating disorders made it harder for them to talk about their problem. Hannah Z was afraid to go to the doctor’s in case she was judged for not being underweight. Laura described feeling “a fake”, despite years of struggle with eating disordered behaviours because she associated eating disorders with “emaciated” people.
“I always had the attitude that people with eating disorders were very skinny, very kind of fragile girls, teenage girls, very emotional about things. But to be honest all my friends that have their eating disorders aren’t the typical stereotypical life-form of what somebody with an eating disorder is.” Nico
Myth 2) Eating disorders only affect women
The numbers of men with eating disorders are rapidly increasing partly due to increased awareness among support services and men themselves. The proportion of men with eating disorders is now thought to be higher than previously suggested (as much as 25 % higher according to the NHS Information Centre, 2007) and on the increase.
Despite this, people still commonly think of eating disorders as “a woman’s illness”, as Andrew put it. People talked about the gender stereotypes of “a macho culture” where men “don’t speak” or “seek help”. Craig thought that being diagnosed with an eating disorder might threaten some men’s sense of “masculinity”.
Men often said they had never realised what they had could be an eating disorder. They themselves only associated eating disorders with women, particularly younger girls. Some believed that doctors didn’t take them as seriously or diagnose them as readily as they would do a woman with the same symptoms. Men pointed out that much of the information about eating disorder symptoms could be alienating as it focused on periods, female hormones and fertility (ability to have children).
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