by Patrick Bergstrom + photos by Seth Freeman
We live in a country that spends billions of dollars on beauty products and fad diets. Everywhere you look there is another ad expressing another way to be thin and look attractive. Yet more than 10 million Americans — nine million women and one million men — suffer from eating disorders, an alarming fact considering that eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of all mental illnesses and are increasing in incidence.
Contrary to popular perception, eating disorders are not really about food and “dieting.” They tend to originate from a complex combination of genetic, social and psychological factors, usually developing in the “perfectionist” — a person who is very intelligent, sensitive or searching for accomplishment or recognition. Eating disorders stem from feelings and use food as the “drug of choice” — a coping mechanism when struggling with these problems.
Click here to read the full article featured in Hagerstown Magazine’s March/April 2009 Issue.