With the heart of Hollywood just over the hill, UCLA students
combat messages about the hypothetical ideal body type every day,
helping to lead many high school and college students to develop
eating disorders such as anorexia, bulimia and compulsive
overeating. These devastating conditions produce both physical and
psychological suffering for their victims, ranging from
difficulties in concentration to severe malnutrition.
“Sometimes disordered eating can be triggered by difficult
transitions, and that’s where coming to college can be a
stressor that can make people feel vulnerable,” said Sally
Melvin-Pick, a licensed clinical social worker and senior staff
member at Student Psychological Services. Erin Naimi, a registered
dietician who was once involved with the Outpatient Eating Disorder
Program at the UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute, explains that
although there are technically three separate types of eating
disorders, many people experience a combination of them. “For
a lot of people it’s a dance, going between anorexia and
bulimia. … Anorexia is so limiting and restricting that most
people find it impossible to maintain that type of
restriction.” According to the Student Nutrition (and Body
Image) Action Committee (SNAC), an on-campus organization dedicated
to helping UCLA students maintain healthy lifestyles and improve
body image, symptoms of anorexia nervosa include extremely low body
weight (lower than 85 percent of normal body weight), a strong fear
of weight gain and, in women, a complete cessation of menstruation,
while bulimia nervosa is characterized by cycles of binge eating
followed by efforts to compensate through self-induced vomiting,
misuse of laxatives or excessive exercising. Naimi explains that
there are many potential causes for eating disorders, including
stressful family structures and psychological factors such as
sexual abuse or Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Socio-cultural
factors such as the messages transmitted via movies, billboards,
and magazines, can also manifest themselves as such disorders.
“Everybody sees ads in the media (that display people with an
ideal body type), and not everyone develops eating disorders. But
psychological influences coupled with the influence of the media
can definitely be the straw that breaks the camel’s
back,” Naimi said. Undeclared second year student Jessica
Liang agrees, “It’s very deceitful of the entertainment
industry to portray people as something they can’t be,”
she said. “The images they portray aren’t even real.
They try to give someone a sense of this unattainable
image””mdash;an unreachable goal””mdash;but you can never have it
because you can’t airbrush in real life.” UCLA offers
many opportunities for students to help themselves and others treat
their eating disorders. Student Psychological services offers
counseling for students suffering from eating disorders, while the
Residential Health Education Committee (RHEC) helps provide support
for students who live on campus by educating dorm residents about
how to keep themselves healthy. When designing treatments for an
eating disorder, both Naimi and Melvin-Pick recommend a team
approach that includes a medical professional. “More people
die from anorexia than from any other mental illness, including
depression and schizophrenia,” Melvin-Pick said. Anorexia can
increase the risk of osteoporosis among young women who stop
menstruating, while chronic bulimia can damage the esophagus and
teeth. “For severe conditions, an inpatient program is most
advantageous. It provides the person with around-the-clock
support,” Naimi said. When people starve themselves, their
bodies resort to self-preservation tactics, causing many to crave
food so strongly that they binge, Naimi said. Then, in an effort to
regain control over their bodies, people experience a longing to
purge or to restrict their diets again in a vicious cycle.
“Nutrition is a really crucial component because unless
someone is nutritionally stable, their body’s going to
sabotage the process of recovery,” Naimi said. As a
registered dietician, Naimi helps patients overcome eating
disorders using a variety of techniques. “We slowly
reintroduce a new healthful way of eating””mdash;we look at fear of
foods, help them deal with their emotional stress, and give them
new coping mechanisms so they don’t use food or restricting
food to deal with their issues.” But Naimi says the first
step to dealing with an eating disorder is to find a source of
support””mdash;whether it is a counselor, friend, or
parent””mdash;and acknowledge that there is a problem.
“It’s always nice to have a group of people you can
rely on, that can give (you) positive reinforcement and help you
get down to the root of the problem,” Liang said. “I
think with eating disorders, people feel like they’re being
judged. It’s easier to get through that with people who are
supportive and non-judgmental.” “People starve
themselves out of a lot of aspects of life,” Melvin-Pick
said. “My advice would be not to settle for less than a full
life””mdash;to have meaningful relationships, to want to learn and
to play.”