National Eating Disorders Awareness Week is February 26-March 4 this year, and this year’s tagline is “it’s time to talk about it.” While it is estimated that 30 million Americans will struggle with an eating disorder at some point in their lives, a new study highlights that recovery is more common than had been previously thought. The study, published in The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, followed 176 women, and found that “among those who took part in the 20-to-25-year follow-up, 68 percent of those with bulimia and 63 percent of those with anorexia had recovered.” What complicates the picture is that we have not yet determined which treatments are most effective to help people recover. But the study clearly shows that recovery is possible, even for people who have lived with an eating disorder for years. It’s important to highlight these findings and share the hope. Below please find more information about this study, as well as other resources on eating disorders and recovery.
- National Eating Disorders Awareness Week (February 26 – March 4, 2017): the goal of National Eating Disorders Awareness (#NEDAwareness) Week is to shine the spotlight on eating disorders and put life-saving resources into the hands of those in need. Created by the National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA).
- Stories of Hope: Explore this collection of recovery stories.
- Shareable social media graphics for National Eating Disorders Awareness Week can be found here.
- Find help for yourself or loved ones with NEDA’s resources.
- Many women with eating disorders do recover, study finds (Chicago Tribune)
- Eating disorders on the rise in women of color (Philly.com)
- The Importance of Taking Risks in Eating Disorder Recovery (The Huffington Post)
- Meet The Women Using Instagram To Fight Their Eating Disorders (Refinery 29)
- Overcoming an Eating Disorder with Instagram (The Atlantic)
- 11 Things to Tell Yourself When You’re About to Binge Eat (US News and World Report)
- Seven Lessons I’m Learning from my Eating Disorder Recovery (Bustle)