The World Will Always Tell You Who To Be, Until You Tell The World Who You Are

Hello World.. I Want To Know You. I Want to Know Who You Are. More Importantly, I Want You To Know Who You Are Not. In today's society it seems as though we are plauged with images of who we should be, what we should look like, and how we should act. Everywhere we turn there are billboards for the latest trend in plastic surgery. Negative messages invade our personal space when we turn on the television to the latest media gossip. We're hardpressed to make it through an entire day without being bombarded with some type of blow to our self esteem. I can count on one hand (or half of one hand!) the people I know who actually feel comfortable in thier own skin. Where does that leave everyone else? Caught in the whirlwind of ignorance. Of society. Of peer pressure. Of all the things "we just don't talk about." Thing is - if we don't talk about these things, then how is anything ever going to change?

The issue I will be focusing on in this blog, is that of eating disorders. It never ceases to amaze me just how much ignorance there is in the world about eating disorders. It's one of those taboo subjects that, quite frankly, cannot afford to be taboo. I know this because I struggled with an eating disorder. And I have made it to the other side.

When I was entrenched in my struggle, my world revolved around the sick and unhealthy prison that my eating disorder [ED] kept me in. At my worst, anything that could fuel my disease, did: including, but not limited to, the verbal and non-verbal messages I was faced with daily. Does that mean I blame those messages for eating disorders? Ofcourse not. There are a multitude of contributing factors in the development of an eating disorder. Unfortunately, as a society, we do not hold ourselves accountable for the awareness and education desperately needed to halt the progression of this insideous disease. We read headlines of Holloywood stars heading to rehab, but what we don't see are the thousands of obituaries every year of every day people who have lost their lives as a direct result of an eating disorder.

Did you know that Eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of any mental illness?
... And it's not soley mental in nature

Did you also know that most insurance companies pay little to no cost for treatment?

So where does that leave anybody? It could be your mother, your sister, your father, your brother. It could be your best friend, your worst enemy... It could even be you.

So I want to hear from you! What are your thoughts?

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