[00:00:00] Hello and welcome to the average nineties GAL podcast. As always, thank you so much for being here. I truly appreciate each and every one of you for listening and tuning in. If you could please share this with anyone who you think this will help, or anyone who you think will be interested in any of the solo or interview guest.
Episodes, that would be great. As I'm sure you know, I do not make any money off of this. That is not the point of this podcast at all, but if you could share it with the people in your life, I would truly appreciate it. And moving on this episode, I am speaking with Doreen Marshall, who is the CEO at the National Eating Disorder Association.
We dive into [00:01:00] her career path, what led to where she is today, and how she got to where she is today. And then we also dive into eating disorders and disordered eating, the signs and symptoms. What to do, what to say. If there's anyone in your life that you're worried about. Or if you're worried about yourself as well as the parents out there, how to speak to your children about it, and then we dive into society, social media, GLP ones, all of the things.
It's a really amazing conversation. The show notes has links to the Nita. Website as well as the tools that they have on the website if you want to use them or send them to anyone, please do. And just a technical, uh, note, we recorded this online and there are times when there seems to be some [00:02:00] feedback that I just could not get rid of.
After trying everything, I just could not get rid of whatever that feedback is from when we recorded, uh, virtually. So please know that it happens every now and then. So I apologize for any technical issues and that feedback, but please just power on through because there's so much. Uh, so many great things that she says and great nuggets of information that I believe will be helpful to absolutely anyone who listens to this.
So thank you once again for being here, and now on to the episode.
Welcome to the average nineties GAL podcast. Join me as I share my own journeys through life, how I got and continue to get through them, as well as real stories. From real people in this crazy world. [00:03:00] Let's get through it together.
Okay. Hi Doreen. How are you? I'm good. How are you, Meredith? I'm doing well. Thank you so much for being here. I really appreciate it. And. With every single episode, I like to ask everyone first, if you could tell me the generation you are from, the year you graduated high school, where you grew up, your family background, family dynamics, where you are now, anything you wanna share.
Great. Well, I guess I'm Generation X. I graduated high school in 1990. Okay. Uh, in New Jersey, which is where I was raised. Um, I, I always say I was raised in northern New Jersey in the shadow of New York City, um, which in a way was kind of small town, even though we were 20 minutes from one of the greatest cities in the world.
[00:04:00] Um, I was a middle child, so I have, uh, two siblings. And, um, my parents were married their entire life till they passed. So very much a traditional family. Um, and, uh, yeah. And so now I, I no longer live in New Jersey, as you know, um, but still think of that place as home anyway. And where are you now? I live in Atlanta, which is also a terrific city.
Yeah. And how long have you been in Atlanta? Oh gosh. I moved here in, uh, 2000 to, uh, go to graduate school to get my PhD in psychology and, uh, have been here ever since. Yeah. So they say I haven't found a good enough reason to leave. Yeah. And what did your parents do, uh, for a living? Just speaking of the family, you know?
So I was a [00:05:00] first generation college student. Um, so neither of my parents went to college. My father, um, had a trucking company. He drove a truck for a living and, and had a company where that was pretty much what he did, delivery services. Um, and my mother was a bank teller for like 25 years until she retired.
Yeah. Cool. And you did talk about getting your PhD. Can you tell me about your. You said psychology, psychiatry, yeah. Yeah. So I have a PhD in counseling psychology. Yeah. Yeah. And so what led you on that path? So you went to. Undergrad and then grad. Can you tell me about that whole path? Yeah. Well, I, I didn't have the most direct path, so it, it's a good story actually.
I, I went to undergrad. My undergrad degrees are actually in philosophy in English. I was a dual major. Um, and I love my under undergrad liberal arts studies, liberal love, love, love. Yeah. Yeah. Um, and always knew I [00:06:00] wanted to help people. I, I. Yeah, as an undergrad I thought I was gonna go to law school and become like a lawyer in public interest or that was really, and I actually got all the way to, I applied to law schools, I got in and uh, it came to the point of having to pay my deposit for law school.
And I said, you know, I'm just not sure. So I ended up not going to law school. I decided to go to a master's program in counseling, um, and knew I was like interested in the content. So, okay, while I'm figuring it out, I'm gonna pursue degree. Um, and then just really kind of fell in love with just that whole area of the field.
Um. Counseling psychology is a little bit different in that, um, it tends to focus on kind of normal, what I think of normal. I'm doing air quotes, developmental challenges, but so much of the work it now is like any person can [00:07:00] experience anything, right? And so, um, got my master's degree, took a few years off, got licensed worked.
I worked for community mental health. And then went back for a PhD primarily because I thought I wanted to teach. Um, and so I started off the years after my PhD, uh, teaching in an academic program and, uh, quickly missed the kind of impact of nonprofit direct service, um, and migrated back toward that, which is where I am now.
Yeah. Yeah, that's right. We should talk first, we'll say you are now the CEO, uh, at National Eating Disorders Association. Did I say that right? Correct. Yeah. So we go by Nita and EDA, but yes, the National Eating Disorders Associ. And you said, and Nita is the, is the shortened Correct. Okay. Yeah. And, but we'll get back to that in a second because I would love to discuss you, your, the path that you just [00:08:00] mentioned into nonprofits.
For anyone listening, the we know each other because we both worked at the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. Can you tell me what led you to A FSP? Uh, from school to, yeah. No, no, I'm happy to. So, you know, my path is an interesting one. When I was getting my master's degree, so this would've been like 1995 ish, um, I lost.
I think what surprised me the most was here I was in graduate school and I didn't feel like I had gotten a lot of training, at least at that time about suicide risk. You know, understanding it, how to intervene, and so I kind of set my career on a bit of a course. Mm-hmm. Where I, one, I wanted to learn all that I could, but also.
At that time, there wasn't that much training available and all that, so it was really like an act of seeking [00:09:00] out. And what you realize is there's not that many people doing that. And so, you know, quickly I started to become the person that people would go to around questions and training and all of that.
So. That kind of set me on a trajectory and I, I always used to laugh with Bob, the CEO of, uh, a FSP because wrote a scholar application for my doctoral program. Future goals are, and I said, I wanna work at the American Foundation.
So l mul 2014 years later, um, I started working full-time at A FSP and was there, as you know, until 2023 when, um, I left that role to join, uh, Nita as the CEO. Yeah. And your role when you left, what was it again? Can you. I was the Vice President of Mission Engagement. Yes. So was doing kind of the content expert, but also working on partnership work and public facing.
And what did you start off [00:10:00] as, because the two of us have our like story of moving up in, in that organization, but what did you Yeah, so I was the Senior Director of Prevention education when I started. That's right. And then I became the vice president of programs because they kind of put the loss and healing programs under the same umbrella.
And then I did that for a few years. And then the way I like to describe it, my position grew and split and I took the side that was the partner partnership. And um, at that time, hill and PRI took the operations role. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, cool. Yeah. And now you're CEO of Nita. That's really, that's really cool.
Been, uh, two years at Nita now. I just passed my second anniversary. Oh yeah. Well, great. Well, congrats. Congrats. Yeah. So you're using everything, you know, all of your knowledge and expertise and taking it to eating disorders, which, uh, unless you would like to say anything more about [00:11:00] your path and your story, I would love to go into.
That expertise just to really educate people Yeah. Who are listening. Yeah, definitely. So, uh, well first of all, can you tell us what is an eating disorder? Yeah, well that's a great question because we use this term and it covers a number of different disorders. Um, like kind of it's an umbrella term. Um. We also talk about disordered eating, which is kind of what I think of as like the self clinical, um, way that people interact with kind of food.
And it's not just the behaviors, but also the mindset. Mm-hmm. That, that accompanies kind of how we approach, uh, food and mealtimes and how we think of our bodies in relationship to that. So eating disorders, the ones most people have heard of, um, anorexia nervosa, bulimia, uh, binge eating disorder, which is actually the most [00:12:00] common eating disorder, though it's not one people tend to think about.
Um, also covers something called arfid, which is avoidant restrictive Food intake disorder. It used to be, um, is categorized differently in the DSM, but there's been a rec categorization of it under eating disorders, and so that's another eating disorder where people.
To food. It's like what people I think traditionally thought of as picky eating, but it's really much more complicated than that. You know, the big takeaway though, I think, is that a lot of people don't think of eating disorders as mental health related or mental health disorders, and so much of what happens with eating disorders overlaps with other mental health concerns, particularly anxiety, depression, trauma.
Substance use disorder. So, you know, to talk about eating disorders without talking about the bigger mental health con conversation is kind of missing the point. Mm-hmm. For sure. [00:13:00] And is, is it also, uh, out of curiosity, is it also one of the few that where really the physical is very much, is so connected to the mental.
I mean, especially maybe for specific types of Yeah. Although I, I, I do think across mental health disorders, like we are looking more about the mental and the physical, right? Like if you think about like how people talk about like thematic concerns around depression or anxiety. What's interesting about, um, eating disorders though, in terms of the physical side of it, is that.
You know, often that's how we know something is wrong, right? That, that someone is having physical problems either due to, um, restrictions, so they're restricting food intake and that's leading to malnourishment or, or nutritional deficit. Um, or we see behaviors around, around mealtime.[00:14:00]
Other physical problems. So GI distress, for example. Um, dental problems, problems with one's hair. I mean, these are all things that when we think about like, um, warning signs mm-hmm. We, we look to the physical as well because while they can often exist invisibly, um, when as they, for, as they progress, we often see, um, physical health problems as well.
Yeah. Yeah. And uh, that's a great lean into my next question, which is. What are the signs and symptoms in, in yourself and in someone else that you're watching that you would say to look out for? Yeah, so there's, there's some that, you know, we look out and then again, there's overlap, but when you're gonna hear me describe these, there's overlap with other mental, mental health disorders.
So. You know, the behavioral ones I just mentioned. So you're looking at someone is changing their behavior around meal times. [00:15:00] They may be avoiding meal times. Um, they may be consuming, um, food past the point of hunger, or they may even be, um, kind of, uh, staying away from food. Avoiding food. Food aversions.
Um, you know, things like, um, eating in secret or, um, kind of isolating oneself around food consumption. Um, other physical signs or things, like I said, the, the kind of rapid changes in weight. Um, although I, and I always introduce this, only 6% of people with eating disorders are medically underweight. So if we're just looking as at weight as the indicator, we're gonna miss a lot of people that are impacted by eating disorders.
Mm-hmm. Um, so there's these behavioral signs, um, excessive exercise. Someone who, um, is excessively focused on exercise or on healthy eating, to the point where it, it's very rigid and restrictive. [00:16:00] The other things we see are like the psychological signs. So, um, we start to see people, um. Just the mindset, right?
It's almost like an, an obsession or a preoccupation with body weight, with appearance, um, with food consumption. So somebody who's like counting calories to a point where. It's disrupting like their, their wellbeing and their social functioning. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Um, so those kind of like mindset things, like a lot of rigidity around food consumption.
Um, a lot of rigid, or even like we think of body dysmorphia, but like just that mindset of. You know, even as their body is changing, they're having a hard time kind of finding satisfac body satisfaction. We know that body dissatisfaction is a big risk factor for eating disorders. Mm-hmm. Um, so there's kind of the, um, behavioral signs.
There's like what I think of the psychological signs or [00:17:00] how people are kind of thinking the mindset around food. And then there's the physical signs, which I mentioned as well. Um, just what we start to see in people who have eating disorders, which are really often signs of malnourishment or nutrient deficits.
Mm-hmm. Um, and it can be, like I mentioned, everything from hair and skin issues of fainting or somebody who has like lots of dizziness, um, sometimes from dehydration or from from malnourishment. Issues with tooth enamel, um, rapid weight changes in a short period of time. Those things are often the physical indicators that we, yeah.
Yeah, definitely. And, uh, I wanna get into some other factors in our society right now, of course, that we're seeing, but, uh. Naturally. What I would love to ask too is when you are seeing signs in someone you love or in [00:18:00] yourself and you, you're thinking, I need some help, what would you suggest the first steps would be for someone or how to speak to someone if you're worried about them?
Yeah, no, I think this is really a good question because like so much of this exists in secrecy and shame, and often when folks try to approach someone who's struggling with eating disorder, they're very well intended. Um, but sometimes they start with commenting on the person's body. And that can actually, um, in addition to it being very producing down the conversation right.
I think a better way and, and I don't think you have to worry about getting it per perfect, but I think approaching it in a way where you're seeing something that's concerning to you and that you care. You know, much like we do, we talk about other mental health. When you're worried about someone with depression or suicide, um, to really say like, Hey, you know, I've noticed some [00:19:00] changes in just like, and usually you can comment on something like social isolation or.
Not, not doing things they used to enjoy or being really rigid around kind of mealtime or exercise. You say, Hey, I've noticed these things and you know, I'm just concerned about you. It, you know, I just wonder if, if you're feeling okay, if this. Feels like how you wanna be in the world, like, or how you wanna, you know, and I think it's helpful to comment on like the con the consequence, right?
Like, we don't see you anymore because you used to join us for dinner and now you don't. Or, um, you know, I've noticed you spend all your time at the gym lately and like, we miss seeing you. I, I just wonder if you're doing okay. Really just start with it an entryway and recognize that the person may not respond immediately.
Know. Another way is to share information. So we have on our website, um, a screening tool, risk screening tool. We [00:20:00] have over a hundred thousand people take it a year. It's, it's free, it's confidential, you don't have to leave any identifying information. But when you take it, it's screens, whether you're at risk for a reading, eating disorder, and then connection to treatment resources.
So I often tell people, you know, you can bring it up like. Hey, you know, I've been reading about this and I wanted to share some information with you. Um, I don't know if you'll find this interesting, but just thought I would share it, you know, really just trying to make that outreach. The other thing though, and we don't talk about this enough, is that eating source tends to co-occur, co-occur with anxiety, co-occur with depression.
So often there's something bigger than just the person's interaction with food that you may be able to comment on, you know. I notice you're getting really anxious when it's time down. Find those other mental health things.
I [00:21:00] think often what people wanna do is they wanna affirm the person's body, you look great or, and what I often say is like, we really need to, as a society, move away from commenting on people's appearance. 'cause when you tell someone with an eating disorder, oh, you lost weight, you look great. We have no idea if that was a healthy weight loss.
And often it furthers this idea of I've gotta keep losing weight to, to feel good. Yeah. In the eyes of other people. Yeah, for sure. And that's a good segue into if, if, I don't know if there's any research that's being done or what you've been seeing or any, or anything that you can comment on, uh, social media in terms of, 'cause the comparison culture that's happening, like you said, and, and the commenting on people's bodies and, and if someone is having issues.
With their body and they're looking at other people and this constant comparison and this culture that's being [00:22:00] created online and espe. And I would think too, with young people, like you have a daughter, I, I have a teenage son. And 'cause we know too, it's men and women. It's not just, you know, certain gender and just what you're seeing if you're, if there's any research or any statistics that are happening.
Yeah. We're certainly learning more about the impact of social media, and I think what's different about eating disorders and social media is that, you know, eating disorder content can really overlap, or I often say can be disguised as health content, right. So. If you think about kind of the, the push around things like, like Guinea talk and all of that, some of that was kind of, you know, disguised I say as like health promotion.
So you have people coming on saying like, this is how I feel my best. And they, they show eating very small portions [00:23:00] of food, for example. Um. So I say all of that because I think for the social media platforms it's been difficult to tease that out because I think while they have safeguards for things like showing eating disorder behavior, right?
Yeah. Like, you know, kind of overtly showing that a lot of what's dangerous is Guy is the IS or under this umbrella and it's much harder to find. So. Can report content. You know, it's really, I, I said to someone the other day, it's like playing whack-a-mole because as soon as you report content about one thing that might be dangerous to someone with an eating disorder, there's five other accounts that are sharing it or doing something similar.
Um, but the appearance focus, the, um, encouraging of restrictive eating, the, um, things that can be triggering to someone with an eating disorder. So like. So.[00:24:00]
To make you look better. I mean, all of those are really someone at risk for an eating disorder. It's, it's dangerous. And the more they're exposed to that content, which we know the algorithms, unfortunately, the more you look at it, the more you see of, um, really can, can set someone up, um, to or can facilitate eating disorder for someone at risk.
Yeah. And, and are you seeing. Any kind of uptick or is it too early to see any kind of statistical information and because I mean, as we know, the statistics are usually behind in, yeah. Yeah. Well that's, you know, I think with social media, like we're learning about kind of the, the risk and what's happening, but as even stores, like other mental health stores, like this is complex, right?
Yeah. It's not just thing, but like that [00:25:00] someone who's at risk.
Well, we know people, once they start seeing that content, the algorithms can expose them to more of it. What we dunno is what prompts people to start seeking that content in the first person in the first place. So, you know, it becomes a little bit of like, if I am already struggling with body dissatisfaction, am I gravitating more to those accounts?
And then seeing more, you know, so it's, it's a complex dynamic, but we know it also intersects with other things, biological things, you know, some people just, you know, their mindset around it or even just the physical things they experience, um, around. You know, um, how their body processes food right? Can really, uh, set someone up differently for an eating disorder than somebody who has none of that.
Yeah, that's interesting. And I did mention we are both parents. I didn't ask that question too. [00:26:00] What do you think parents should do, uh, in terms of making sure your kid. Oh, either you're, you're gonna see signs, what should you do? But, but also to just kind of preventative measures of exposure to certain things or to, I don't know, I know they stop eating disorders from happening or, but like body, how they look their bodies and being healthy.
What, what do you think about? So I would say three things. Um, in particular, one, I think. To not be afraid to talk about this, to not be afraid to introduce the topic. Um, most people wait or they parents think, is this a phase? I'll wait and see. And what we know about eating disorders, the longer they go with any, without any intervention, the harder they are to treat.
So if you have a teenager and you're noticing things like, now is the time. To approach it [00:27:00] in a caring, nonjudgmental way to focus on like, I want you to be as healthy as you can be in the world and to have all of the things that you want out of your life. And I get the sense. This might be getting in the way of that, you know, really approaching it.
Um, not being afraid to connect to professional support too. Like no parents are expected to be experts. Mm-hmm. But we shouldn't wait, and I think we tend to wait with something like this. I wouldn't wait. So that's the first thing. Don't wait. The second thing I would say is ask about their friends. Like that to me is like the easiest way to approach the topic is say, you know, I was listening to this podcast about eating disorders and you know, it seems like a lot of teens and college age folks are impacted.
Like, aren't your friends going through anything like this? You'll be surprised what you learn. And sometimes that's an entryway into. Are you also experiencing anything like this? You know? So don't be [00:28:00] afraid to ask about their friends. I can tell you, you and I both have teenagers, right? Um, they know more about what, what's happening with each other than we'll ever know as parents.
Yes. Um, and then the third thing I think parents particularly can do is be very mindful about how you talk about your own body and how you approach. You know, and what you comment on about appearance, what you compliment in your kids. What I mean, we are all impacted by diet, culture, and really just, I mean, I can tell you even working as the CEO of Nita, I started recognizing things in my language that you think that I thought, you know what?
That's something that I heard growing up and I need to lose that. So I think really being intentional about your language and not holding these values that thinner is better, right? Or that if, if you're, um, in a higher weight body, that you're [00:29:00] necessarily unhealthy. Like these are things we've been told and, you know, have learned from media and others, and we really need to examine how we talk about ourselves and each other.
Oh my gosh. That is a huge point to make because I, I also have noticed myself like, like saying no to a photo because, oh, I don't like how I look right now and. What that would even do and or reacting to a photo of myself and saying, oh, I look big and thinking and catching myself later going, oh, I should not have said that in front of my kid.
Like, I mean, it's amazing if you go through a day and think about how many times you either are tempted to say something like that or hear it, right? Yeah. I mean, think about the holidays, right? How many people say things. I'm gonna save up my calories for, for dinner, or, oh, I had dessert. I need to walk this off.
I mean, these things we say that, you know, we think, oh, they're innocuous, but, but [00:30:00] for someone in your proximity who's struggling with an eating disorder, these, these comments have weight. And they have weight in terms of people at risk. So we really just need to. Police language and you'll realize just how often we say these things that don't even think about it.
Yeah. Or, and around younger kids too, thinking that it doesn't make a difference. Uh, so any parents that if you. A kid who's even seven years old or, you know, if you're constantly saying that it's going to have an effect eventually. Right. Because as as you said, we heard it growing up, we're of that generation for sure.
Yeah. And you know, every generation, another piece of this too is like also not as a parent, not being afraid to be an advocate for your kid. So I'll give you just one example. Um, pediatricians don't necessarily need to talk to kids about their weight. They don't even need to weigh them and share with them the weight.
So like being, having like what we call like a [00:31:00] blind being weighed blindly, where you know you step on the scale, but you're not told your weight, you don't see your weight. We can always advocate for that for our kids and for ourselves particularly if you think that is gonna be something that is particularly troubling to your child because.
I will tell you those, the growth charts that you know, pediatricians, and that's not just picking up pediatricians. I think it's any medical setting that, you know, sometimes they make a big deal out of things that in a young child, in a developing body. Can set up a course. I can't tell you how many people I've heard that from people with eating disorders who will say, I remember really clearly being nine years old and my doctor telling my mother I needed to lose weight.
I mean, kids in developing bodies, like we really need to think about how we're approaching them and how we're maybe overlying on metrics like BMI to determine health. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, that's really great point. I love that. [00:32:00] So something that I want to end with and then anything else that comes up, obviously.
But is it, because it is everywhere, is GLP one's ozempic? I mean, it's now in every type of form, in every capacity. I, I it's, so I am just really curious as to. You know, what you have seen or your thoughts on just having just GLP ones in general for our society. Do you think it's having an effect on people who, you know, are at risk or have eating disorders or, and I, I don't, there's no way of really of knowing this so, but of, you know, bringing them, bringing eating disorders about, or disordered eating about as well.
I'm just curious what your thoughts are about that. Yeah, I mean this is such a tricky topic and I think, you know, there is a bit of, I like to think of this as a both and [00:33:00] okay, these medications exist, they treat real health problems, right? And for some people they're gonna see health benefits from that and.
We also know they're being overprescribed, that people can easily get them for weight loss. And we're not talking about weight loss that may necessarily be driven for medical reasons, like lowering, um, your A1C or or other, um, metrics. And we know that, that it's pretty easy to get them right? Mm-hmm. And so what, what is happening, I think on a couple levels, one, people are being prescribed them often aren't assessed for eating disorders or screened for eating disorders, and so they're getting them without this sense of like, is this going to further or fuel disordered eating?
Or put this person at further risk for health consequences. Um, the other piece though is that I think it, it sends a [00:34:00] message that like, it reinforces this idea of thin is better, right? Mm-hmm. So if, if I'm in a larger body and I'm comfortable being in a larger body and I have people around me saying, well, really what you should do is.
Seek weight because now, and I'm doing quote, it's so easy. And I would say there's nothing easy about taking those drugs. Um, but I think they're here to stay because I do think the other ways we're learning that they can help people who have health, you know, type two diabetes. I think they're here to stay.
And I also think we have to be really intentional around eating disorder risk and who, who is seeking these drugs, why and making sure that we're screening. I do worry a little bit though, because it's clearly, it's out there and you know Hollywood, right? There's this kind of perception of who's, who's taking ozempic or who's on the GLP ones.
I think it [00:35:00] reinforces that message that a thin body type is, is the only body type people should have. Mm-hmm. So that's the danger. Like I said, it's a both end in that they're here to stay, they're, they're gonna show health benefits for some people and. They're dangerous people with eating disorders.
Yeah. Yeah. So it's a tricky thing. You know, I, I think we just have to go into it also thinking that we dunno everything right, like about them. That the studies on these are not generating long term studies. And so we're still like understanding what.
Or taking these drugs, but yeah. Yeah. Our, our bodies aren't meant to do rapid weight loss and sometimes that, that in and of itself can convince your bo or can can set your body up for other problems. Sure. We're not meant to weight in very dramatic short periods of time. [00:36:00] Yeah. Yeah. And then something that everyone in knew.
Doctors, nutritionists, you know, everyone out there is also talking about what they think the long-term effects are going to be, but we haven't seen them yet, as you just mentioned. But that's the other factor too, is all the physical consequences that might happen and having to be on it forever is, whatever I'm doing your quotes now.
People keep talking about you have to be on it forever or else you're gonna gain all the weight and you're losing lean muscle, and everyone's talking about all that. Once again, it's the mental, and the physical is all coming together as well as with like you said. But yeah, I mean if you think about that, if you think about that, right, like most people, and I, I'm gonna make a stereo or generalization here, like most people don't wanna take additional medication if they don't need it, right?
And so there's something that's driving folks to seek out. Right. And you know, [00:37:00] the mental side of this, like I would be really curious if I were a prescriber and I had someone asking me about them, I'd wanna understand more. And this is around, I think, the screening for eating disorders and really trying to get a sense like, okay, what is it that this person is seeking this with the goal of weight loss?
And how does that connect with their overall health? Um. Yeah, it's a tricky time. And you know what people in the eating disorder space talk about is it's not the first time there's been something on the market that led to dramatic weight loss that we later looked back and said that was unhealthy. Yeah.
And so that we will see what happens with these. But I do think there're here to stay in that there are some health benefits that people are seeing from them outside of weight loss that we can't ignore either. Yeah, for sure. Yeah, they're not gonna go anywhere. But I do love the idea, and I'm curious what [00:38:00] you would think is the way to do this, because as we know, regular, you know, the regular doctor, and we know this too, with mental health and we assessing suicide risk and mental health risks and prescriptions, how.
How would you go about, and this is a huge question, so I guess this is kind of a, uh, your wishlist question, uh, in a way is getting that type of like eating disorder screening to. The general practitioner, for instance, like for someone who says, I want this, this, and this, and they go, okay, well first we need to ask you these questions.
How? What would be your wish of how to get that fully out there? And for every practitioner to do that and really understand it too, does it go to the medical training or does it happen in the. Yeah, no, I think, I think you're asking the right question because probably not surprising to you. Um, most medical [00:39:00] practitioners do not get a lot of training in eating disorders.
Most therapists do not have a lot of training in eating disorders. So the folks that are, that do specialize in eating disorders often sought additional training beyond graduate work or beyond their, their medical studies. And I think that's important. So, you know, if someone were coming to me and said, I, I think I have an eating disorder.
Some of the things I'd want them to do is try and find a provider. That has some training or specialization in eating disorders, whether it's a nutritionist that, or dietician, like a lot of folks work with dieticians, but I don't think you can just work with any dietician. I think you need to work with somebody who understands eating disorders, um, you know, a therapist that has some experience with eating disorders or some background.
Um, because I think if you don't, you don't, and, and you may get. That's helpful, but doesn't get to what's really happening for you. Um, mm-hmm. And so [00:40:00] someone who knows how to assess, who understands the complexity and how they I with other mental health and physical health issues, it's important. And that said, I know it can be challenging to find someone with that specialization on Nita's website, which is national eating disorders.org.
We have the screening tool, but we also have a treatment map where people can kind of look in their location and see, and, and these are providers that, you know, have signed up for to be on the map, but they, we do some kind of vetting to make sure that they have some background in eating disorders, whether it's a credential or some, some training.
Oh, that's great. So it's a good starting place. We also, um, want people, you know, if you dunno, ask the questions of your provider. Have you ever worked with someone with an eating disorder? Like get that information and make sure it's somebody you're comfortable with? Mm-hmm. Yeah. And I will link to your website and all of that in the show notes as well for anyone who wants to easily just click and see all of that.
[00:41:00] So, uh, for sure. Yeah. Well, thank you so much. Is there anything else you would like to share? Uh. That we left out or that I forgot to ask or, yeah. No, I just really appreciate you elevating this topic and, um, in addition to it being fun to talk with you, I, I just really appreciate you elevating this topic and, um, just driving people to resources because I think a lot of people suffer alone.
Um, and we know they're not the only ones. Nearly 30 million people will have an eating disorder in their lifetime. So these are big numbers. Some. As I mentioned earlier, like to not just have weight be the way you tell if someone has an eating disorder. Like I said, most people with an eating disorder are not what we think of as medically underweight, and so we're missing people of in all body types, but also we're missing men and.
The trans community and other races and ethnicities [00:42:00] that we don't necessarily associate with the stereotype. The eating disorders don't discriminate. So we need to just be mindful that there's people all around us that may be impacted. Hmm. That's wonderful. Yeah, and I always, and this is going back to you personally, so I always end, uh, e every episode with asking a couple of, uh, questions and.
So the first one is if you, if you won the lottery today, the huge Powerball, whatever mega, what is the very first thing you would do with all of the money or some of the money? Oh, wow. That's a really good question. Um, you know, as you know, um, Meredith, like my personal passion in life is to make sure people get support around their mental health disorders, whether it's eating disorders or suicide or depression or, and so like, I would love to, like, I could [00:43:00] see myself opening up a clinic where those services were like, that to me would be if I could do anything and there were no limits.
Because I do think the access to care thing is real and you know, I just wish it would more people could seek, get the help they need. So that would be a thing. Um, personally, we have a joke in my family. I would buy a new used car and that, that's anytime someone's asked me like, you hit the lottery, what would you buy first?
I'd buy a good used car. I've always driven used cars. I, I have this thing about driving a new, new car, like, and like being worried about it. So I get a good used car. I love it so much. That is so great. And then the final question I ask everyone is because. Part of the message around this podcast is getting ourselves back to who we authentically are, and so I, [00:44:00] what is one thing you would either love to start or stop, or both that would get you closer to who you authentically are?
Yeah, that's a really great question. Um, you know, I I, I've been working on this in my life, but I think, I don't think I'm, um, different from a lot of people, you know, particularly women. I'm in my fifties, I have, you know, kids and, um, you know, for, for years I had parents that needed care. And so, um, I think I've been trying to find more ways to make sure every day has some fun in it.
So that I would say that to me is returning to who I'm, because there's no lack of compassion or caring or wanting to serve in the world. But sometimes in all of that, I forget. Like I'm a human being who enjoys fun and likes to laugh, and so finding ways to [00:45:00] daily bring that into my life. Um, and it can be, I mean, there's lots of things I do, but it can be something from watching a funny video throughout the day to like making time, um, to just consume things I really enjoy that make me laugh.
I mean, it's, it's really, I think we could all use a little more fun, particularly nowadays. Yeah. Yeah. I love that. That's great. Well, thank you so much for sharing. Thank you for sharing your story and all of that. Amazing. Uh. Information, uh, you educated me and I know anyone listening is now leaving this episode knowing so much more about eating disorders and what they can do and the signs and symptoms and everything.
So thank you so much for that and I really appreciate it. Yeah, of course. Love this. Of course. Thank you and take care. You too.
