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Perfect weight? How body image and anorexia are interrelated

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[Music] foreign [Music] hey Chris how are you today good how are you I'm good I just met you and I heard you're a social worker in New Jersey tell me why did you choose to you know after studying in college why did you choose to become a social worker what made you choose that I really wanted to see if I could make a difference um I saw like just by growing up and seeing the people around me that um access to things that people think are um easy to get or really not easy to get you know the simple things like food security and housing are all things that are can be very difficult especially when you have a disability like a mental health disability or physical disability can be really difficult to secure those things for yourself so I wanted to see if I could make a difference in that yeah I'm so glad as a young person you're trying to make a big difference uh we also talked a little bit about um you know your mental health and a lot of things that you told me what was it that made you realize that there was something wrong you know why was your life going out of control what was that event that happened in your years yeah I honestly really wasn't sure what was going wrong in my college Years I um thought I was just kind of being healthy I thought I was being disciplined and um making Forward Motion in my life and I just kind of wasn't I mean I was aware that I was losing weight but I wasn't really aware that it was something that was um starting to change how I was interacting not only with my friends but also with something as simple as um as food yeah um yeah trying to keep to some kind of diet or like what happened like what made you realize that there was an issue going on um I started to realize that there was an issue when it became difficult to do things that used to come very easily to me and it was kind of like depression in the sense where it was very difficult to get out of bed it was very difficult to go do my workout or to go cook myself a healthy meal and that was because my body was so depleted of nutrients I just I just wasn't eating enough even though I had convinced myself that I was eating enough and these things that I was doing was the right thing to do yeah tell me a little bit more what happened like you it sounds like for anybody else that you know you're just not getting enough nutrition but was there more to it um there was there was definitely a part of me looking and comparing myself I think to other people um wondering you know why I didn't look like all the other all the other girls in a way yeah um social media was not helpful and that caused either um especially because they're I wouldn't say I was subscribing to any diet but there were plenty of Health advice there were plenty of fitness influencers and all of them showing like this ideal version of a body that I was trying to attain for myself and then for that yes yes I um got to the point where I was trying to do all this stuff for me for myself that my body stopped functioning properly and I was hospitalized um in 2020 I was hospitalized for an eating disorder anorexia specifically um and I was there for about three months oh wow so do you think uh just being aware of some other person who's gone through your journey would have helped you realize that you know as as a growing person right we all our bodies are changing and you know information about anorexia and depression you know how are they related and what would that have helped you a little bit or what do you think what made you realize that you needed help I think that information about anorexia or eating disorders in general um being more public would have definitely been helpful because there's this very specific image of someone who's anorexic and there's this very specific image of an eating disorder in general and I find that um that doesn't fit the typical profile of a lot of people with eating disorders like when I was hospitalized I wasn't I wasn't like this stick thin individual I had um some muscle mass not a lot but some and a lot of my friends would classify me as very healthy as very fit as very disciplined and um I think someone telling coming in and telling me like you know you don't it's actually not helpful for you to be so fastidious about what you eat and how you eat and to exert control over your life over food and or through food is really detrimental to how you enjoy your life how you enjoy your company with your friends because you end up being more concerned about what you're eating or what you have eaten already that day as opposed to the people you're with the things that they're saying the stories or memories that you could be creating yeah that that is really important right as a that's a great message that I think our viewers should learn from you that you know we need to support people who are going through this this trauma of like looking really lean but really what is going on right like reach out what was it how did you I know you got hospitalized but after that how did you maintain a healthy lifestyle I [Music] um it took a lot of trial and error honestly um there was a lot of um I got in touch with a good therapist and I was just really honest about what was happening and I also had to trust the process I had to trust that my body was going to change even more and I couldn't fall back on Old patterns as my body started to adjust to you know a typical amount of food that someone might wants to eat in a day yeah yeah I'm so glad that you found the right therapist the right help and I'm glad that you know you're healthy now and thank you Chris for sharing your story thanks for having me sure foreign

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What an Expert Says

In this insightful and thought-provoking YouTube video <https://youtu.be/OU-CaOLFytg>, Dr. Seema Sehgal shares about a pressing issue prevalent in today's society: anorexia and its cultural implications. They delve into the secrecy surrounding this mental health disorder, its historical context, and the ways in which social media exacerbates the problem. The expert provides valuable information on the signs to watch out for, the underlying causes, and the importance of a supportive environment for recovery. This video sheds light on the seriousness of anorexia and emphasizes the need for awareness and understanding. #AnorexiaAwareness #MentalHealthMatters #BodyImageIssues #EatingDisorders #SocialMediaImpact #CulturalImplications #RecoveryJourney #SupportAndUnderstanding #BreakingStigma #mentalhealthawareness #empoweringconversations

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