By considering the reality that eating disorders can be fatal, it’s hard for a loved one or clinician to ignore the severity of these illnesses. It’s too easy for people to minimize eating disorders as extreme diets or a passing phase to lose weight, but there is a stark difference between some weight fluctuation and serious medical illness.
People with eating disorders find that their lives are taken over by the thoughts and behaviors. Attending to work or schoolwork becomes more difficult. Friendships tend to go by the wayside. One’s personality fades in order to accommodate the eating disorder. Any life goals that seemed important don’t matter in the same way anymore.
Someone may get distracted by a diet or weight loss plan for a few weeks and become upset once the period ends, but that person isn’t likely to lose track of everything and everyone that matter in life. The obsessive focus on eating disorder goals is all that is important to a sick person. This singleminded goal combined with the loss of everything relevant to that person are the key distinctions between an eating disorder and a diet.
Once that line is crossed, loved ones and clinicians need to stress the severity of the condition. Without adequate treatment, eating disorders can be chronic, even life-long illnesses, and compromise quality of life and longevity.
Treatment is not a guarantee of health and recovery and tends to take time, but minimizing the illness and avoiding necessary steps to get help can be dangerous. The risks to health and living a full life are great. Stressing this reality can make a difference in the long run.
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