Six months into the pandemic, clinicians are still seeing people seek treatment for eating disorders at a higher rate.
Nearly all of us had our entire routines upended at the beginning of the pandemic and some have never quite settled. But that disruption can be triggering for people battling disordered eating.
“We’re seeing an increase in isolation and we know eating disorders thrive in isolation,” Audrey Wilson, co-founder of Living Proof MN, a Bloomington nonprofit eating disorder recovery center, said. “There’s a high comorbidity between any kind of mental illness and eating disorders already so I would definitely say that the pandemic has exacerbated eating disorders in all areas.”
Living Proof MN founder Shira Charptenier says in-person contact whether in-patient or out is critical in recovery. It’s connections that help people stay on track and stay mindful.
“It’s really important to keep doing the things you know are working,” she said. “With the pandemic happening so fast, so abruptly, many people lost all of their support systems immediately.”
If you’re questioning if you need help, that’s a good signal to reach out.
“Initial, go-to reaction when anybody hears ‘eating disorder,’ -- ‘Oh, they just like having control,’” Charpentier said. “But there’s a reason why they need control. There’s something traumatic that they can’t grapple with and this gives them the sort of structure so they can be more peaceful in their own life, but it really gets elevated and out of control, which then leads to a pretty severe eating disorder.”
Despite media stereotypes, eating disorders affect people of different weights, genders, races and socioeconomic backgrounds.
“I’ve actually had a fair number of men and adolescent, teenage, 20-year-old boys reaching out to me asking for help and saying this has gotten to a point where I can’t hide it anymore,” Charpentier said. “My family’s affected, my spouse, my partner is becoming affected and I really don’t know where to turn. And for a lot of them it’s really the first time they’ve reached out for help.”
Some patients might have transitioned to virtual meetings, treatment and support groups, but the core mission remains the same.
“It’s a very delicate balance in terms of helping somebody -- taking sort of the control away and leading them but also empowering them to make choices for themselves."