Saturday, March 15, 2008

Drunkorexia, Stressorexia, Orthorexia, Diabulima. Is Healthy Eating Extinct?

Does it seem like every week there's a "new" eating disorder making headlines? Let's see, we've got diabulimia for diabetics, drunkorexia for college girls, stressorexia for working moms and orthorexia for eccentric celebrities. Meanwhile, more eating disorders are affecting younger children and record numbers of middle-aged women are being treated for anorexia. The media can slice and dice disordered eating behaviors to come up with endless sensational stories and clever buzzwords. But let's just step back for a minute and call this situation what it is: one steaming hot mess of food and weight issues.

Eating habits and body image are reflections of our emotional health. And all of these disorders, whether official diagnoses or not, point to the pretty obvious fact that our culture is not in the best place. But you know what? We're bumming ourselves out with all this bad news, so next week we're going to focus our energies on spreading some good cheer. Got some positive news or projects to share? Send them our way. Look for sunshine and rainbows starting Monday.

2 comments:

Aly said...

I think I know some drunkorexics...girls who completely use liquid calories as substanance, and don't actually...chew.

Unknown said...

While Orthorexia is a non medical term and is not considered a clinical diagnosis or an official eating disorder, it is a serious illness that can lead to significant emotional and physical problems. Orthorexics obsession with healthy eating becomes detrimental. As a result many orthorexics suffer from malnutrition, digestive problems, fatigue and weakness. The Center for Eating Disorders at Sheppard Pratt offers some warning signs and also expands on the illness. Check out our blog for more information: http://eatingdisorder.org/blog/2009/03/17/orthorexia-too-much-of-a-good-thing/