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while eating disorders are not commonly
talked about statistics from National
Eating Disorder Information Center shows
that more than 1 million people suffer
from eating disorders in Canada alone
eating disorders have some of the
highest mortality rates of any mental
illness and the worst part of it is that
you often won't know until it's too late
you see having an eating disorder is
much more than just hating food but
rather it's characterized by someone's
unusual relationship with food eating
disorders can come in many types such as
anorexia bulimia nervosa binge eating
disorder and pica each with very
different symptoms this video is not
only dedicated to those who want to help
a loved one who's struggling but also
everyone who wants to understand the
sensitive yet important topic so here
are 5 things not to say or do when you
know someone has an eating disorder 1
talking about your body we know where
it's come out naturally but remember
people with an eating disorder are extra
sensitive don't compare yourself to us
because it can become a trigger
we're already more insecure and
uncomfortable with our bodies so whether
you're giving us a compliment or just
saying how you feel about your own body
our eating disorders find ways to
interpret it as a criticism to
force-feeding which is mostly applied to
anorexia or bulimia no we don't mean
trying to stuff our faces with food we
mean pushing the plate closer to us one
step at a time we know you care about us
and attempt little things to help us but
remember our minds are controlled by our
eating disorders we've lost our sense of
a proper serving of food and we depend
on you to help us decide what is normal
but when we see you adding more and more
it only makes us more cautious and
fearful about the meal in front of us 3
I understand what you're going through
no you really don't
the saying that doesn't change the
situation it triggers us and we feel
more frustrated because it seems like
you're trivializing what we're going
through when you tell us you understand
it makes it seem like we're an easy fix
but the truth is
it takes two years on average for
someone to recover from an eating
disorder for your diet I'm on a detox
tea diet and that's all I'm having today
when you say these things to us we
naturally start to compare ourselves to
you we might think to ourselves if
you're on that diet maybe I should be on
it too it makes us feel even more guilty
about eating please consider our
feelings - we don't hate food but we
still care about what's going in five
you don't look like you have an eating
disorder eating disorders can be very
insidious they aren't obvious until it's
too late and sometimes we don't even
know we're struggling until things get
worse eating disorders can result in all
forms shapes and sizes whenever we hear
this our disorders would tell us that
there's nothing abnormal about our
behaviors and this makes recovery even
harder for us we might look normal on
the outside but we're fragile and even
broken on the inside eating disorders
affect everyone differently and can be
caused by many different factors
just like recovering from any other
mental illness all we need is support
and love no it's not only about the
words you say but you being here for us
mentally and physically believe in us
and remember to tell us that you aren't
alone and everybody is beautiful it's
not the body that makes us it's what's
on the inside
we might not believe that now but maybe
with your help in time we will do you
know anyone with an eating disorder have
you struggled with it before but never
knew you had it share your thoughts with
us in the comment section below if you
enjoyed this video and found it helpful
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it thanks for watching