Diagnosing the dialogue

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Happy National Eating Disorder Awareness Week, McMaster! I think it’s time we talk.

You see, eating disorders are an ugly problem especially prevalent among people our age, and we need to change that. One in ten people with anorexia will die due to suicide or medical complications within ten years of diagnosis. We all contribute to perpetuating society’s disordered relationship with food and exercise and we all have the responsibility to fix it.

There’s so much that you can do. You can call people out on b.s. about “clean eating” (which isn’t even based in scientific evidence) and labelling food as good or bad. You can compliment young girls on their ideas rather than how cute they look. You can challenge stigma towards the psychiatric system, recognizing that eating disorders are often connected to depression or anxiety, which may require medication. You can stop assuming that it’s only underweight people that suffer from eating disorders; in fact, people with bulimia tend to be average or overweight.

You can also lobby for important institutional change. We should have at least one dietician in the Student Wellness Centre and ideally a psychologist as well. McMaster should have a policy that athletes with eating disorders are not allowed to compete until they’ve started to work towards recovery. We should have the ability to provide treatment for students that don’t qualify for outpatient because of a low BMI.

The status quo is insufficient. I experienced this when I was diagnosed with an eating disorder but my weight was too low to be accepted into outpatient. The people at the Student Wellness Centre went above and beyond to help me, but eating disorders require expertise and a level of care that the SWC is unable to provide. I am thankful to have survived and thrived thanks to an incredible network of friends and family. But I’m worried.

I’m worried for the students that will come after me. I’m worried that if they don’t have a severe enough case that they won’t receive sufficient help from the SWC because of resource constraints. I’m worried that the cult of perfection at our university will continue to be a catalyst that does not get subjected to criticism. So please be critical of our institution and of yourself and the norms you perpetuate, not just this week, but every week.

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