Being constantly confronted with the opportunities to eat fast food and gaze at photos of ultra-thin models isn’t just confusing, it’s dangerous, according to a former OU student.
As OU prepared for this week’s national Eating Disorder Awareness Week, former Sooner Catherine Swinson said the mixed signals present in college — food that is cheap yet unhealthy, little time to exercise and constant images of skinny celebrities — were a toxic mix that perpetuated an eating disorder she developed as a young teenager.
Swinson was involved in horseback riding and dancing, two activities that were very body image-oriented, she said.
“I had great instructors who tried to enforce a positive body image, but the overall focus on the body made me acutely aware of every little flaw,” Swinson said.
She always wanted to lose “a few more pounds,” but eventually Swinson’s desire to shed weight drove her to binge and purge, symptoms of the eating disorder bulimia.
“I was depressed and suicidal,” she said. “There came a point when I couldn’t control my reflexes and I realized I needed help.”
The Women’s Outreach Center, OU Recreational Services, and Counseling and Testing have teamed up for the week to raise awareness of the issues facing students.
Women’s Outreach Center coordinator Kathy Moxley said 90 percent of college students feel dissatisfied with their bodies, and 13 to 20 percent of college students have a diagnosable eating disorder.
Although eating disorders are often thought of as a problem for women, men represent 10 percent of all individuals with eating disorders, she said.
“We want to reach out to those folks who are struggling in silence,” Moxley said.
Swinson said one of the core elements of an eating disorder is secrecy.
“You make up so many lies to cover the fact you are sick,” she said. “If you want to break the cycle, you have to break the habit of lying.”
Swinson said having an eating disorder is like abusing alcohol or drugs, in that it is an addictive behavior that can feel impossible to shake off. She didn’t break the cycle of her own disorder until she sought professional help.
Although she’s been through an outpatient recovery program, Swinson said she still struggles to let go of the negative thoughts associated with her disorder.
Moxley hopes the events that make up Eating Disorder Awareness Week at OU will help prevent students from becoming trapped by the same ideas and actions that have haunted others like Swinson.
She said media-driven pressure to look a certain way can overwhelm students, but if pressure is mitigated early enough, it can be treated before it becomes debilitating.
Staff members at the Women’s Outreach Center will be available this week for workshops about body images and the media.
“Anytime you educate people, it does help [address] the problem,” Moxley said.
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Jackie_Hur 3 years, 3 months ago
Not to make light of eating disorders, but polls which say that 90% of students have body image problems do little but say that noone's happy with their body. Evidentally, this does not translate into eating disorders and attempting to generalize this problem as somethign that affects virtually everyone removes the reader from the actual difficulty of living with and recovering from anorexia and bulimia.