Boston Online Eating Disorder Therapy

In the United States, 20 million women and 10 million men suffer from a diagnosable eating disorder at some time in their life, including anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, binge eating disorder, or other specified feeding or eating disorders. While Taylor Swift’s eating disorder really gained steam in her mid-20s, the youngest and most vulnerable of the population shouldn’t be overlooked.

Dissatisfaction with their own bodies or weight is increasingly common among young children and teenagers. Here are some more troubling statistics from the survey done for the National Eating Disorders Association:

The main goals in treatment are restoring adequate nutrition, bringing weight to a healthy level, stopping binging and purging, and reducing excessive exercise.

Psychotherapy is an important factor in gaining understanding and skills to develop healthy eating habits and body image. In some cases, where depression or anxiety is a prominent factor in the eating disorder, medication may be prescribed.

Individual, group or family counseling may be a part of the treatment plan and can be a critical factor in creating a support network.

Part of Taylor Swift’s path to recovery includes positive self-talk — when you have unhealthy or unhelpful thoughts that complicate your relationship with food or your body, you have a phrase or positive affirmation ready to tell yourself (and tell yourself again). Repeating a mantra or even a short quote flips the switch on your brain and helps you to focus elsewhere.

Research is continuing on the complex biological, psychological and social factors that combine to create an eating disorder. The most important step is to first acknowledge that there is a problem. Human beings are tremendously capable of growth and improvement in the face of enormous challenges, but until an issue is addressed and acknowledged, work to change cannot begin. Being able to talk about it with a trusted friend can be helpful and can diminish the sense of isolation and shame that is often a significant part of the problem.

Being able to seek treatment from a professional therapist can also open a path towards healing and renewal. Eating disorders often occur in combination with other problems such as depression or anxiety; a path to good health must be designed specifically for each individual. The most promising fact about eating disorders is that with professional, compassionate and consistent treatment, a complete recovery possible… and you don’t have to be Taylor Swift to get the help you need.

Taylor Swift recounts how people — especially those in the public eye — are held to impossible standards when it comes to what is beautiful, acceptable, or “right.” She explains, “If you’re thin enough, then you don’t have that ass that everybody wants .. but if you have enough weight on you to have an ass, your stomach isn’t flat enough. It’s all just f—ing impossible.” 

Being too thin, as in the case of anorexia, can cause serious health problems and in extreme cases, even death. Concerned health professionals, educators and parents are making efforts to increase awareness that the extreme thinness of fashion models sets a twisted and dangerous ideal of beauty.

Fame and fortune doesn’t prevent celebrities like Taylor Swift from eating disorders, and they’re very common among all populations and demographics. At least 9% of the worldwide population is affected by eating disorders, and in the US alone, 28.8 million Americans will have an eating disorder in their lifetime. Eating disorders affect people of all ages, races and socio-economic levels, and 25 percent of these Americans are men. There’s also an abundance of shame associated with weight fluctuations, as Taylor Swift and popular author-lecturer Brené Brown have alluded to.

A survey of 1,000 adults conducted for the National Eating Disorders Association found that 70 percent believe encouraging the media and advertisers to use more average sized people in their advertising campaigns would reduce or prevent eating disorders.
But scientific knowledge, abundance and choice can be overridden by psychological and emotional imprints that cast a shadow over the natural impulse to eat what the body needs to survive and be healthy. This is true for Taylor Swift, who explains, “I thought that I was supposed to feel like I was going to pass out at the end of a show, or in the middle of it…now I realize, no, if you eat food, have energy, get stronger, you can do all these shows and not feel (enervated).”