Image is Everything

by Melissa Cox

Most women who struggle with eating disorders start their journey with a diet to lose five pounds. That simple desire becomes an uncontrollable obsession, fueled by the "image is everything" message that permeates our culture and warps our self esteem.

Some professionals see eating disorders as similar to other addictive behaviors. If that is true, we need to educate those around us on the reality of these diseases. On my flight home from Pennsylvania, I thought about the grim statistic that 15 percent of the more than 1 million Americans with anorexia will die from it. A report on managed care reimbursement for eating disorders that appeared in U.S. News and World Report cites, "Of all mental illnesses, anorexia has the highest mortality rate."

Although eating disorders can turn deadly, they can also be treated. But if physicians and parents don"t pay attention to this problem or are not aware of the warning signs, symptoms and manifestations of the disease young people may suffer needlessly. It"s time to dispel the "image is everything" myth for your patients, their parents and your own family by emphasizing that a person"s value is based on who she is, not on what she looks like.