LEARN THE LANGUAGE

Let’s define
these words:

BODY IMAGE
DISORDERED EATING
EATING DISORDER

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BODY IMAGE

Body image is the personal, mental picture we hold of ourselves, regardless of what our body actually looks like. It includes thoughts, feelings, and behaviors toward our body.

Body image can be positive, negative, or neutral, and it can change over time, or even throughout the day.

Positive body image means:
Having an accurate sense of your appearance.
Differentiating between how you look and who you are.
Minimizing worry about how you look, and even appreciating it instead.
It’s normal for feelings about the body to change throughout the day, but thoughts about your body shouldn’t take up too much “brain space” or ruin your day.
Neutral body image means:
You don’t regularly experience intense emotions about your body, either positive or negative.
Appreciating what your body can do.
It encompasses the same characteristics as positive body image.
Negative body image can involve:
Distortion: What you see isn’t what others see, or just plain isn’t accurate.
Dissatisfaction: The feeling that your body isn’t shaped in an “ideal” way.
It can cause feelings of shame, anxiety, and self-consciousness.
These feelings don’t go away when you stop looking and can influence how you approach the world.
Body dysmorphia refers to hyper focus on perceived flaws in physical appearance.
It can lead to shame or anxiety.
It can have a negative impact on self-esteem, mood, and social functioning.

DISORDERED EATING

Disordered eating refers to a range of behaviors or attitudes about food, weight, shape, and appearance.

Having disordered eating increases the risk of developing an eating disorder.

People might develop disordered eating habits due to:

Low self-esteem
Desire to meet athletic expectations
Comparison with others
Messaging from media
Traumatic events
Illnesses

EATING DISORDERS

Eating disorders are serious, life-altering illnesses characterized by a range of harmful eating and/or weight management behaviors, thoughts, and feelings. They can negatively affect both physical and mental health.

They happen to people of all ages, socioeconomic statuses, gender-identities, races, ethnicities, shapes, and sizes. Four eating disorders you might hear about are:

Anorexia Nervosa is a type of eating disorder that happens when a person restricts their intake of calories, leading to a dangerously low personal body weight.
Often times due to a fear of gaining weight or the desire to lose weight or become more lean
Some people lose weight.
Others just don’t gain weight while they’re growing.
Bulimia Nervosa is a type of eating disorder characterized by a cycle of binging and purging.
Binging means eating an objectively large amount of food in a short period of time.
Purging means getting rid of that food by exercising, using laxatives, or throwing up.
These behaviors are often driven by a desire to manage appearance.
It includes a loss of control while eating.
Binge Eating Disorder is a type of eating disorder that includes rapid, mechanical eating.
In this case, if there is purging, it is not done at the same frequency as Bulimia Nervosa.
The eating can happen even when someone isn’t hungry.
AFRID (Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder) is a type of eating disorder that happens when a person restricts their calorie intake due to a disinterest in eating.
This disinterest is often caused by sensory issues or fear of something bad happening while eating, like choking or throwing up.
It has the same consequences as anorexia nervosa, but it is not caused by negative body image or a desire to change body weight.
It has the same consequences as anorexia nervosa

All types of eating disorders interfere with quality of life.

If you have an extra 8 minutes, here is another video about Why Eating Disorders Are Way More Common Than You Think.