Eight Biggest Eating Disorders Myths

With the rise in the number of people being affected by eating disorders, the body of myths related to them is also increasing. Here are some myths associated with eating disorders busted for you.

Myth 1: It is only teenage girls that suffer from eating disorders.
While most of the eating disorders do affect young adults, there is no particular age of people who are affected by them. Eating disorders could affect anyone, from any gender – girls, boys, older men and women, eating disorders could affect anyone.

Myth 2: It is impossible to recover fully from an eating disorder.
There is not a single shred of truth in the above statement. Recover, though it takes a very long time in eating disorders, is not completely impossible. In fact with hard work and determination, one can get completely recovered in a couple of months too. However, the time period depends from person to person.

Myth 3: Only gay men have eating disorders.
There is no correlation of sexual preferences and eating disorders. Any one – male or female, whether they are homo sexual or not, could fall victim to this disease.

Myth 4: Eating disorders are only to do with food.
This is one of the biggest myths of all. Eating disorders are psychologically rooted and are almost always the result of distorted body image. Weight becomes the focus and food becomes a way to magnify or numb one’s emotions. Food is a symptom of eating disorders and not the problem.

Myth 5: All Bulimics purge by vomiting.
Whereas this is the case with most bulimics, it does not stand true for all of them. Many bulimics take laxatives, exercise excessively or starve themselves to rid themselves of the calories that they themselves ingested.

Myth 6: All thin people are anorexics.
This is not true at all. Not all thin people are anorexics. Underweight is a symptom of anorexia. However, not all underweight people are anorexics. It is wrong to label extremely thin people as anorexics.

Myth 7: Anorexics do not indulge in bingeing and purging.
While the anorexics main aim is to reduce weight and get their ideal body image, they may have bouts of bingeing and purging too. They might feel guilty or scared when they consume that they sometimes even purge the water that they may have ingested.

Myth 8: Bulimia is not fatal.
Bulimia is very much fatal. Actually a lot of bulimics are generally at a very high risk. Purging and excessive exercising can cause major depletion in potassium in the body or cause an electrolyte imbalance, therefore inducing death.