Eating Disorder Myths

 Eating Disorder Myths:

• You have to be emaciated to have an ED.
• In order to recover the only thing you need to do is eat.
• People with bulimia are never underweight.
• People with anorexia are always underweight.
• People with eating disorders who are overweight must have binge eating disorders.
• If your weight goes up you're getting better.
• If your weight goes down you're getting worse.
• When you reach a healthy weight you are recovered.
  
• People with bulimia and binge eating disorder wish they had anorexia but they didn't have the self-control to stop eating.
• You're not sick until you're emaciated.
• People with anorexia never eat.
• You can't have a serious eating disorder if you're very young or old.
• Men don't have eating disorders.
• People with anorexia hate food.
• Having an eating disorder is a choice.
• Eating disorders are just a way to get attention.
• People with eating disorders can choose to stop using symptoms.
• Everyone with an eating disorder wants to be really skinny.
• People with eating disorders are vain and only care about their looks.
• Doctors and other professionals are always right.  If they say someone doesn't have an eating disorder, they are right.
• The reason people get eating disorders is because they took dieting to an extreme.
• People who binge have no self-control.
• You have to be "sick enough" to seek treatment.
• You can never fully recover from an ED.
• Men with eating disorders are always gay.
• Eating disorders are solely a problem about food.
• Purging is always done by vomiting.
• People with anorexia never eat food with fat.
• The only eating disorder you can die from is anorexia.
• People have eating disorders in order to hurt or punish their family and friends.
• Compulsive eating is not an eating disorder.
• People with binge eating disorder are just lazy and have no self-control.
• An eating disorder is just a way to lose weight.
• People with eating disorders are Caucasian and middle or upper class.
• There is no such thing as too much exercise.
• People who have anorexia are always timid and shy.
• Eating disorder treatment is easy.