With body dysmorphia rampant and an ever growing culture of “perfectionism”, eating disorders are damaging lives of men, women and children. This issue is tackled in the new six part series on E! called “What’s Eating You?” which airs Wednesdays at 10:00PM ET/PT and began October 13th . I recently interviewed one of the show’s licensed Clinical Psychologists, Dr. Julie Anne, and patient Kristy, a former model who fights bulimia, in the video above. Their message is one of understanding and hope, and you don’t want to miss this series if you or someone you know may be dealing with an eating disorder.
From E!: “What’s Eating You?” chronicles the extreme challenges of women and men whose lives are at risk as they battle not only their distorted body images, but also self-created, life-threatening food rituals and compulsions. The lives of twelve brave participants in the series are laid bare including a young man who will chew and swallow an entire pack of gum instead of eating food to feel satiated, a young mother who wears layers of clothes in the scorching Phoenix sun just to hide a body she feels is “sickly deformed” as a result of her pregnancies, and another woman who spends hours each day at different fast food restaurants, just to purge privately in a bevy of single-person bathrooms around town.
With the help of trained medical professionals, highly experienced therapists and nutrition specialists, these patients will attempt to begin the long, painful and often shocking journey to recovery. Patients will encounter many roadblocks along the way and not everyone will be successful. However, despite all the secrets and the shame, there is a resounding message: hope.
