To Care or Not to Care? That is the Question.

Back onto the depressing matters at hand for the required blog post of the week, I dive deeper into eating disorders. I keep learning, and it makes me really hate that at one point in time I considered starving myself, or giving in and then puking it up. It's not good for you. Bulimia has some nasty side effects besides that "weight loss" thing. As it turns out, vomiting rots your stomach, throat, and gums. You can lose your hair as well as the ability to create offspring, and you have a chance at your esophagus exploding, which would obviously result in: DEATH. I know I have really stressed using eating disorders as a way to lose weight, but that isn't all it is used for. As research has shown, eating disorders are ways to cope with depression, stress, peer pressures, codependency, or the need for control. Many parents, and even kids, don't realize that being bullied about your body at a young age can drastically increase the chance to use an eating disorder to fix the "problem" the bullies have pointed out. But these diseases aren't just physical; they have a ton of mental roots, which is why the road to recovery takes so many stops at health care facilities. The sad fact is, only one third of people with these problems are receiving mental help, while everyone in need of it should be followed by a physician, a psychologist/psychiatrist, and a REGISTERED dietitian. There is a break in the storm though. The amount of young ladies that have gone for eating disorder help has risen from ~1,300 in the previous year to ~1,500 this year. Help is possible, but there has been debate on an official cure. Some claim that it is like being an alcoholic, it will always be there, while others will tell you that the psychological problems can be isolated and fixed. Who's to say but the patients?