Eating Disorder Series: Episode 1 - Let's Talk About Eating Disorders

Join Valentina and Terra in the first episode of the Eating Disorder Podcast Series, in partnership with Safe Communities Wellington County. This episode focuses on commonly asked questions around eating disorders, while also mentioning relevant statistics, resources and much more. 

Transcript

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Valentina Sarmiento  00:00

*Introduction podcast music* Hey everyone my name is Valentina and I'm a youth ambassador here at the grove and welcome to Episode One of the Get With The Grove eating disorder podcast series in collaboration with Safe Communities. This series aims to spread awareness and break the stigma surrounding eating disorders in the Wellington County community. Just to give you a bit of an introduction, Safe Communities, Wellington county promotes safe and healthy behaviours and protects people from hurt and harm. The Safe Communities Wellington County and its member committees work with representatives from local municipal councils, emergency services, public health, school boards, and other stakeholders who have made it their goal to maintain Wellington County as a designated safe community. All members strive to make our county the safest and healthiest place in which to live, learn, work and thrive in working with public health. They provided us with the data of why people land in the emergency room of the local Groves Hospital in Fergus, and one of the areas was intentional self harm. With that safe communities working group is focused on mental wellness and specifically this year, they're looking at eating disorders since there's so much data around the rise in people struggling with eating disorders, not only in our community, but generally speaking as well. We are not experts, but we want to provide opportunities for conversations, awareness raising, and bringing resources to our community that otherwise wouldn't really be there. It is exciting to team up with Safe Communities for this podcast series and be part of these conversations. So today, our mental health clinician Terra will be joining me and helping answer some commonly asked questions and information around eating disorders. So we hope this episode is helpful and answers some questions you may have not known before. All right, so hello, Terra and welcome to the podcast. Before we start, do you mind telling our listeners a little bit about yourself?

Terra Venator  01:59

For sure. Thanks so much for having me. So I work as the mental health counsellor with the Grove Youth Wellness hubs and CMHA Waterloo Wellington, I've been working at the Grove specifically for only about six months now doing counselling. And before that I did my Masters of Social Work at Laurier and graduated in 2020. Right in the start of the pandemic there. And now I'm here and excited to be on the podcast today.

Valentina Sarmiento  02:00

Oh that's so exciting! So let's get into it. So I guess let's start with what an eating disorder is?

Terra Venator  02:38

For sure. Great first question. So not to get too book nerdy about it here but the American psych Psychiatric Association defines an eating disorder as a behavioural condition that's persistent, that has persistent disturbances in eating habits and distressing thoughts and emotions. In Canada, these do need to be diagnosed by a medical professional like a psychologist or psychiatrists and now those are guided by the DSM five, which is the diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders. Um and eating disorders actually have the highest rate of mortality among mental health disorders, according to NEDIC, which is the National Eating Disorder Information Center, a great resource, by the way, and they can have really serious consequences for someone's physical and mental health. Of course. So Kids Help Phone also has a really great article for eating disorders. And I think it's called eating disorders: important things to know. And they talk about how often times, um people think that eating disorders have to do with food and weight, which often times they do, but more often, it's actually more connected to how someone feels about themselves and what's going on in their lives.

Valentina Sarmiento  04:01

Yeah. So there's this common misconception that an eating disorder looks or is a certain way, when in reality, there are a variety of different types, and it looks really differently among people. So could you share with us a little bit about them?

Terra Venator  04:19

For sure, for sure. So the two main ones that I'm sure many people know about most are anorexia and bulimia. So NEDIC describes anorexia as behaviours that interfere with maintaining an adequate weight, and a powerful fear of gaining weight or becoming fat, and oftentimes to an overestimation of the person's own body size. And Bulimia is described by NEDIC as characterised by periods of food restriction, followed by binge eating with recurrence. compensating behaviours such as purging or restricting in between. Um but there's quite a few more. Those are the two main ones that a lot of people know about. But there's also binge eating disorder, avoidant and restrictive food intake disorder, which is called ARFID and other specified feeding and eating disorders as well. So there's definitely a lot.

Valentina Sarmiento  05:20

Right, so for the first one that you did mention, you stated how it's believing that you're bigger than you actually are. So does that kind of go along the lines of body dysmorphia? Or is that a completely separate thing?

Terra Venator  05:37

It does a little bit. It's definitely connected. I'm not an expert in this area. But I believe that body dysmorphia is a thing in itself. But it definitely is an aspect of anorexia for sure.

Valentina Sarmiento  05:52

Okay, so along with the other misconceptions of, you know, what it's what it may specifically look like or how general it really is. There's lots of other myths surrounding it, so what are some that you may have run into that you can help clarify?

Terra Venator  06:09

Yeah, yeah, those are really concerning. Myths are pretty damaging to people with eating disorders. But one of the biggest things I want to address here is that people who have eating disorders can be all shapes, all sizes, um and they can affect affect anyone, no matter your gender, your age, your race or anything else. Another aspect, I also wanted to clarify, too, is that it's not your fault if you're experiencing an eating disorder, kind of point blank there.

Valentina Sarmiento  06:40

Yeah, I agree. That's incredibly important to point out, for sure. So at the beginning, you defined what an eating disorder is. And in relation to this, do you think there's a difference between disordered eating and an eating disorder?

Terra Venator  06:56

Yea definitely. So I'll preface that a lot of this information that I got for this part of it was from an article from Temimah Zucker, on the National Eating Disorders Association website, it's a great article. But to start, before we get into the difference of an eating disorder, and disordered eating, I kind of wanted to define what non disordered eating is.  IS what a lot of people know is like normal eating, quote, unquote. So that's when someone consumes food mindfully when they feel hungry. And then they can stop when they feel full. So that's non disordered eating. Disordered eating, on the other hand, are maybe people who, when they they eat when they get bored, or they have the same meals over and over again, and don't really expand from that, or they completely avoid an entire food group. And the biggest thing that separates that from an eating disorder is that disordered eating doesn't affect the person's daily life and daily functioning. But back again, to the eating disorder, as I mentioned earlier, those are when it begins to affect the person's daily life or daily functioning, their habits, their mental health, their physical health. And like when the thoughts surrounding food and calories and body image, they kind of consume the person.

Valentina Sarmiento  07:24

 Yeah, for sure. Of course, this was such a good thing to clarify, because I know like, if I'm being honest, even my friends, like they'll say, oh, my gosh, I must have an eating disorder, then because I'm eating when I'm bored, or I'm eating the same things every day, or whatever. So I think this is a really great thing to clarify. And thank you for doing so. So for me, not until the process of really making this podcast and doing some research, I really, personally wasn't aware of how common eating disorders actually are. So I think it's important to start this conversation and give people the truth of its prevalence. So can you share with us some information maybe around some statistics, and how common it really is?

Terra Venator  09:08

For sure. Yeah, I definitely think that people some people don't realize how prevalent eating disorders actually are. But I actually am a little bit of a nerd and love stats. So let's get into it. So Body Braves website, which is another really good resources say that one in 13 Canadians have an eating disorder.

Valentina Sarmiento  09:31

Wow.

Terra Venator  09:31

And they said that most of those numbers don't receive treatment or support, which is terrifying. So CMHA Waterloo Wellington reports that the number of children so people under 18, seeking support with an eating disorder grew by 37.6% between 2020 and 2021. So that's just a year.

Valentina Sarmiento  09:56

Yeah.

Terra Venator  09:56

And a 66.6% rise in referrals from 2019 to 2021. And 20% of people, I just wanted to add this other tidbit in 20% of people with anorexia, and 25 to 35% of people with bulimia attempt suicide in their lifetime that came from NEDIC. So that's a really scary stat as well. NEDIC also mentions that the mortality rate associated with anorexia is 12 times greater than all other causes of death combined. For females aged 15 to 24.

Valentina Sarmiento  10:36

That wow,

Terra Venator  10:38

 Yeah it's really concerning.

Valentina Sarmiento  10:42

So do you think that kind of following into like, influences, do o you think that COVID was maybe something that really influenced the numbers going up during that time period?

Terra Venator  10:57

For sure, I think there was a lot of aspects of COVID that came into account there. And I think one of the biggest things was isolation. But I definitely think it had a huge influence.

Valentina Sarmiento  11:11

Okay. So on top of this influence, we know that social media really is something that's valued by society, specifically in regards to body image, what is glamorized versus what is not. So there are definitely other contributing factors and influences like COVID. And like social media that may put individuals more at risk. So can you maybe speak on any other contributing factors that exist, like social media and COVID?

Terra Venator  11:40

Yeah. So to clarify, there's no single cause of eating disorders. But like you said, there can be so many different influences, and they can be so different for every single person. Um but there can be biology influences, psychology, biochemical, sociocultural factors. Genetics can play a role, um financial struggles, family issues, stress, life experiences. So there can be so many influences. Like I said, it's so different for so many people. Sometimes dieting can can be a contributing factor as well. And like you said earlier, too, we all know how influential social media can be.

Valentina Sarmiento  12:26

Especially with like diet culture, like that second, Kim Kardashian goes on something, everyone wants to do it.

Terra Venator  12:33

Exactly!

Valentina Sarmiento  12:33

And I don't know if you saw her whole Met Gala experience, where she told everyone that she lost like 16 pounds in like a very short span of time. And she never even ended up actually fitting into the dress, but she's telling everyone that she did. So it's stuff like that, that it's it's mind boggling how these influences can can put others at so much risk.

Terra Venator  12:58

For sure, for sure, it can totally have a big effect on someone's self esteem and body image, which definitely can play into the role of an eating disorder. And lastly, the last kind of influence I wanted to mention, too, is that if someone's experienced, like a really difficult experience, or thing, or traumatic event in their life, that can be another contributing factor as well.

Valentina Sarmiento  13:23

For sure do you think that I guess having more of these influences kind of all at once, like, like you said, there's not one single reason, do you think having more of them? Like, put the person at a greater risk? Then someone with maybe like less influences than that?

Terra Venator  13:42

For sure yeah, I think that can be if you have multiple of these influences, for sure. It just really depends on the person how they're affected by certain things.

Valentina Sarmiento  13:52

Okay. So maybe for those people who don't know how to get this help, or maybe don't know that they need it, or what is something or what treatments are available, and can you navigate some of these treatments for the people who are moving towards seeking support, just don't know where to start?

Terra Venator  14:12

For sure. Yeah. So there's actually lots of different treatment options available. But unfortunately, I have to preface that with saying so many of them have pretty long waitlists, which is, which is hard.

Valentina Sarmiento  14:27

Especially with this like enormous spike that happened in the stats that you gave us before. Like it's saddening.

Terra Venator  14:35

For sure, definitely. Yeah. So the different types of treatment treatment options. So there's day treatment options. There's inpatient treatment options, which inpatient means the patient would be staying inside a hospital or facility while receiving their treatment for that duration of time. Okay. And that options more so utilized for patients who are experiencing more severe and worrisome symptoms that might not be able to be managed by outpatient. Which leads into outpatient treatment options, which means the patient would not be staying in any facility or treatment facility, they would just meet with their care providers regularly. So for example, CMHA Waterloo Wellington's outpatient eating disorders treatment program has kind of like a multidisciplinary team that would be involved in the patient's care that includes a nurse practitioner, a therapist and a registered dietician.

Valentina Sarmiento  15:42

Okay.

Terra Venator  15:43

And for that program, just while we're talking about it, people can self refer themselves by calling the Here 24/7 crisis line, or by talking to their doctor and their doctor can refer them. But overall, I just think it's super important to talk to a professional and try to determine what's the best for you as the patient. Um as you have a big voice in that.

Valentina Sarmiento  16:11

For sure. And I completely agree with that. I think it's so important for the client to voice their concerns and really work in a in a collaborative way with other professionals to find what option is really best for them. But I guess before they're even able to do this, how can they themselves identify and recognize that they may need treatment in the first place?

Terra Venator  16:34

For sure. So I just wanted to start this one off by saying, which I think a lot of us know this, but you can't visually see an eating disorder. It's not often the case that there's something visual that will indicate this person has an eating disorder. But some physical things to look out for are things like rapid weight loss, not gaining weight at an appropriate rate, like for that person's age or something like that um hair loss, avoiding food, avoiding situations that involve food, binge eating at times, vomiting, using laxatives, excessive exercising, dizziness. But again, a lot of those things are things that loved ones might not even notice or know about that a person is utilizing or engaging in. But there's also some behavioral things to look out for too. So things like isolation, the person's isolating themselves more than usual or increasing isolation, nervousness about situations where there's going to be food there, or taking a really long time in the bathroom after eating. But it's also important to for the person who might be experiencing the eating disorder to think about how often am I thinking about food and my body and calories and things like that? Because if the thoughts like that begin to kind of interrupt your day to day your daily life, then that might be an indicator to reach out for support, if you can, for sure, yeah. But the biggest thing I wanted people to kind of take home too is that you don't have to navigate that alone. Like, if you're feeling like you need that support, or you need to reach out. It's a really hard first step, but it's a really important step 100%. Yeah, so if you can try to talk to kind of a safe adult, like a parent or guardian, a teacher, your doctor, or even calling a helpline like Kids Help Phone or here 24/7. These people that might be experiencing eating disorders might have like confusion about what's going on, or stress are lots of ups and downs in your moods. So help lines, like I mentioned before, have people ready to connect with you if you need that support, need someone to talk to but try to be kind with yourself and be gentle. It's a really tough thing to experience and go through. But remember that recovery is possible. And there is support out there for you.

Valentina Sarmiento  17:09

100% . In regards to kind of the signs that you were mentioning, maybe things to look out for. I remember when I was in school, there are certain things in the DSM where they said you have to kind of meet a certain amount of these signs to kind of be diagnosed. So with these signs, do you think there's maybe a certain amount of signs that you have to have before you seek help.

Terra Venator  19:47

I don't think so at all. I think kind of the baseline is that if you're struggling, reach out, reach out for support. It doesn't matter. It's not up to the person to determine Am I worthy enough or sick enough or bad enough that I need the support? Yeah, there is support out there for any level of struggle that you're experiencing. So whether that's a full on eating disorder, or you think you're beginning to experience that, there is support out there for any level.

Valentina Sarmiento  20:19

Okay thats great thank you so much for clarifying that.

Terra Venator  20:22

 of course.

Valentina Sarmiento  20:23

So, I guess for for those who may not be experiencing the eating disorder, but have their family, their friends, peers in their life that are dealing with one, how can these individuals best support them?

Terra Venator  20:39

Yeah, that's a really good question. So to start that one off, I think that misunderstanding and stigmas and judgments about eating disorders are really, really harmful, and can make it really difficult for someone who's suffering to reach out for support even more difficult than it already is. So I would say to try and be gentle and come from an understanding perspective. And if you can try to learn a little bit about these things, like listening to this podcast is the first step. And maybe try and do a little bit of research. So I think one of the biggest things is just ensuring that they know you're there to support them in a non judgmental way.

Valentina Sarmiento  21:26

Yeah. So I guess then going into this, like research piece, and really educating yourself, then what are some resources for everyone to kind of look into and find out some more information about eating disorders, treatment and everything else?

Terra Venator  21:43

Yeah. So NEDIC, which I think I mentioned before, has some awesome resources on their website, as well as the Kids Help Phone article that I mentioned earlier. bodybrave.ca also has some great resources. And I believe they also have support for people 17 and above, which I believe are free of cost if you're in Guelph KW, Cambridge, and kind of those surrounding areas. And lastly, for loved ones, there's also a book that has some pretty practical suggestions for helping a loved one who is struggling with an eating disorder disorder. And it's called, it's a long title. Its called Skilled Based Learning for Caring for a Loved One with an Eating Disorder: The New Muadsley Method, Second Edition.

Valentina Sarmiento  22:37

Haha nice.

Terra Venator  22:38

We can try and link some of those resources. But again, like I mentioned before calling here 24/7, calling Kids Help Phone, talking to your doctor, or trusted adult are also really amazing things as well.

Valentina Sarmiento  22:52

All right. Thank you. Thank you so much for being here for plugging everyone with these awesome resources, this information. This was really, this is a really great way to start off this series. And I'm so glad we were able to do it here with you. So thank you again, and we hope to have you back on the podcast soon.

23:11

For sure! Thank you so much for having me. I think it's such an important topic. And I'm really grateful that I was here to be able to chat about it and get that conversation started.

Valentina Sarmiento  23:21

Me too. Thank you, Terra.

Terra Venator  23:23

Thanks!

Valentina Sarmiento  23:25

All right, everyone. So with everything being said, we have discussed some heavy topics in this podcast episode. And this is just a reminder that if you or someone you know are struggling with an eating disorder or disordered eating, you can seek support and resources from the National Eating Disorders Information Center Hotline at 1-866-633-4220. Additionally, you can seek support and resources at one of the grove Youth Wellness hubs in either Guelph, Erin, Fergus, or Palmerston, Ontario, and for hours and more information visit www.thegrovehubs.ca. Thank you so much for tuning in and hope you have a lovely rest of your day. Please take care of yourself and stay tuned for next week's episode. See you then friends *outro podcast music*

IN CRISIS OR NEED SUPPORT?

Call Here24/7 anytime 1-844-437-3247

Or

Text CONNECT to 686868 for Kids Help Phone

https://kidshelpphone.ca/urgent-help

Resources mentioned during the podcast:

https://nedic.ca/

https://kidshelpphone.ca/get-info/eating-disorders-important-things-to-know/

https://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/blog/eating-disorders-versus-disordered-eating

https://www.bodybrave.ca/

https://www.therecord.com/local-guelph/news/2022/01/31/there-s-been-a-sharp-rise-in-eating-disorders-across-guelph-and-wellington-here-s-what-to-look-out-for.html?li_source=LI&li_medium=rec_web_ymbii

Skills-based Caring for a Loved One with an Eating Disorder: The New Maudsley Method, The Second Edition – Book: https://www.amazon.ca/Skills-based-Caring-Loved-Eating-Disorder/dp/1138826634