The stress of starting college can lead to eating disorders in freshmen, according to psychology specialist Dr. Mary Boggiano of the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
Students who enter their first year are educated about the “freshman 15” weight gain phenomenon. They may then indulge in dieting or purging food, according to Boggiano, and the act of dieting can trigger an eating disorder.
“It’s really not a weight issue, it’s a mind issue,” Boggiano said.
She says that when some freshmen gain the extra few pounds, they develop eating disorders due to worrying excessively about their weight. Having dealt with an eating disorder herself during her younger years, Boggiano says that symtoms of eating disorders, for under or overweight people “only get worse, unless you get treatment.”
A person who ate three sensible meals a day and never started dieting would never develop an eating disorder, according to Boggiano.
Colleges can help by educating their students about ways to get help, in the same way that they educate about the dangers of heavy drinking or unsafe sex.
“A flyer on an RA’s [resident assistant] bulletin board can be huge,” Boggiano said, because it would let students know that it is possible to talk to someone and begin the process of getting help.
Boggiano thinks that anorexia should be classified as an anxiety disorder. She has found that people who develop anorexia often have family histories of anxiety disorders, and she suspects that there is a genetic component to the illness.
Two types of serious eating disorders are anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. Anorexia manifests when a person eats very little to control weight, whereas bulimia develops from the use of laxatives or vomiting to purge the food consumed. There is also binge eating, which consists of spontaneous urges of uncontrollable eating, which is also classified as an eating disorder.
These behaviors can have serious consequences. According to the National Institutes of Mental Health, anorexia nervosa can lead to anemia, low blood pressure, and brittle hair and nails. It is the deadliest of all mental illnesses, Boggiano said, more dangerous to its sufferers than major depression or schizophrenia.
Bulimia can lead to a chronically inflamed throat, severe dehydration, dental and kidney problems. Binge eating disorder causes weight gain, perhaps to the point of obesity.
Boggiano says that a team approach is essential for treating anorexia, first with emergency medical care, and then with cognitive and behavioral therapy and education from a nutritionist or a dietitian.
“They have to learn how to eat again,” she explained.
For example, a person might be weighed, eat an apple and then step on the scale again, so a therapist can demonstrate that eating one apple cannot make one obese, she said.
Drugs may have value in reducing the anxiety of the anorexic and reducing the obsessive-compulsive disorder symptoms of the bulimic, but drugs without therapy will not be effective, she said.
Boggiano said that 60 percent of people with eating disorders recover well enough to have functional lives, so treatment has been proven to be worthwhile.
Researchers at the Timberline Knolls Residential Treatment Center in Lemont, Ill., mention pro-eating disorder websites as influences, where people look for information about anorexia and bulimia.
“Press coverage of these sites often completely ignores the reality that anorexia nervosa has the highest mortality rate of any mental illness—up to 20 percent. This is a life and death matter that families and individuals facing eating disorders must recognize,” said Dr. Kimberly Dennis, medical director at the Timberline Center.
There are many ways to recover from these illnesses, and many resources can provide help. Timberline Knolls is just one of many centers that can provide men, women, and young adults with the solutions to recovery from any kind of eating disorder.
College students can seek help at free counseling centers and by joining support groups.
With reporting by Mary Silver.
Students who enter their first year are educated about the “freshman 15” weight gain phenomenon. They may then indulge in dieting or purging food, according to Boggiano, and the act of dieting can trigger an eating disorder.
“It’s really not a weight issue, it’s a mind issue,” Boggiano said.
She says that when some freshmen gain the extra few pounds, they develop eating disorders due to worrying excessively about their weight. Having dealt with an eating disorder herself during her younger years, Boggiano says that symtoms of eating disorders, for under or overweight people “only get worse, unless you get treatment.”
A person who ate three sensible meals a day and never started dieting would never develop an eating disorder, according to Boggiano.
Colleges can help by educating their students about ways to get help, in the same way that they educate about the dangers of heavy drinking or unsafe sex.
“A flyer on an RA’s [resident assistant] bulletin board can be huge,” Boggiano said, because it would let students know that it is possible to talk to someone and begin the process of getting help.
Boggiano thinks that anorexia should be classified as an anxiety disorder. She has found that people who develop anorexia often have family histories of anxiety disorders, and she suspects that there is a genetic component to the illness.
Two types of serious eating disorders are anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. Anorexia manifests when a person eats very little to control weight, whereas bulimia develops from the use of laxatives or vomiting to purge the food consumed. There is also binge eating, which consists of spontaneous urges of uncontrollable eating, which is also classified as an eating disorder.
These behaviors can have serious consequences. According to the National Institutes of Mental Health, anorexia nervosa can lead to anemia, low blood pressure, and brittle hair and nails. It is the deadliest of all mental illnesses, Boggiano said, more dangerous to its sufferers than major depression or schizophrenia.
Bulimia can lead to a chronically inflamed throat, severe dehydration, dental and kidney problems. Binge eating disorder causes weight gain, perhaps to the point of obesity.
Boggiano says that a team approach is essential for treating anorexia, first with emergency medical care, and then with cognitive and behavioral therapy and education from a nutritionist or a dietitian.
“They have to learn how to eat again,” she explained.
For example, a person might be weighed, eat an apple and then step on the scale again, so a therapist can demonstrate that eating one apple cannot make one obese, she said.
Drugs may have value in reducing the anxiety of the anorexic and reducing the obsessive-compulsive disorder symptoms of the bulimic, but drugs without therapy will not be effective, she said.
Boggiano said that 60 percent of people with eating disorders recover well enough to have functional lives, so treatment has been proven to be worthwhile.
Researchers at the Timberline Knolls Residential Treatment Center in Lemont, Ill., mention pro-eating disorder websites as influences, where people look for information about anorexia and bulimia.
“Press coverage of these sites often completely ignores the reality that anorexia nervosa has the highest mortality rate of any mental illness—up to 20 percent. This is a life and death matter that families and individuals facing eating disorders must recognize,” said Dr. Kimberly Dennis, medical director at the Timberline Center.
There are many ways to recover from these illnesses, and many resources can provide help. Timberline Knolls is just one of many centers that can provide men, women, and young adults with the solutions to recovery from any kind of eating disorder.
College students can seek help at free counseling centers and by joining support groups.
With reporting by Mary Silver.
