Why are eating disorders so hard to treat? - Anees Bahji

Dig into the psychiatric conditions of eating disorders, and explore the complex effects they have on the body and mind.

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Globally, about 10% of people will experience an eating disorder during their lifetime. And yet, eating disorders are profoundly misunderstood. Misconceptions about everything from symptoms to treatment make it difficult to navigate an eating disorder or support someone you love as they do so. Anees Bahji shares what is— and isn’t— true about eating disorders.

Lesson by Anees Bahji, directed by Laura Jayne Hodkin.

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Thank you so much to our patrons for your support! Without you this video would not be possible! Andrew Tweddle, Laurel-Ann Rice, Fernando A. Endo, Helen Lee, pam morgan, sarim haq, Juan Pablo Rodriguez Morales, ANNE FINE, Gerardo Castro, Siddharth Toshniwal, Michel-Ange Hortegat, Enes Kirimi, Amaury BISIAUX, ND, Samyogita Hardikar, Vanessa Graulich, Vandana Gunwani, Abdulmohsin Almadi, Andrew Brodski, AJ Lyon, Anandha Krishnan, Geoffrey Bultitude, Mi Mi, Thomas Rothert, Christopher McVay, Carlo Solaroli, Javier Aldavaz, Ivan Yeung, Brian Elieson, Oge O, Weronika Falkowska, Stefano Esposito, Nevin Spoljaric, Sid Chanpuriya, Arjay Arcinue Dineros, Anoom Yasmin, Anoop Varghese, David Yastremski, Noah Webb, B, Erica Guerrero, Roberto Chena, Oliver Koo, Luke Pisano, Andrea Gordon, Aleksandar Donev, Nicole Klau Ibarra, Milo Vermeulen, Ryan Weiler and Jesse Lira.

[shadowreign]

The worst part about having an ED is not a single day goes by where you do not obsess over food. Whether it’s binging, starving, or binging and purging. Most of my day is consumed with panicking over eating too much.

[eoghanoregan]

The hardest part of an eating disorder isn't the eating, it's the mental aspect. When I started recovering from my ED, the biggest struggle was trying to change the way I think about food and myself, as well as the amount of time I spend thinking about food and my body. It still is, even though I'm recovered on the outside, every single day you have to fight it.

[gggg]

To everyone suffering from an ed, i just want to say :
1. Don't be afraid or ashamed to seek help and don't think lesser of yourself for seeking help. Everyone falls sick at some point in their life and people suffering from an illness deserve treatment whether it be a mental disorder or a physical disorder
2. You are not alone. So many people, including me have become better and I promise, even if it takes time, one day things will get better for you too

[MrsLanna]

There is hope and you CAN recover. I had an ED for 18 years. It started when I was 13/14. After I had kids, and the thought of them going through what I have been through just broke my heart and I decided to fully commit to recovery. Now I’m 3 years into recovery. It’s been a struggle with lots of ups and downs. But overall, I’m very happy with where I am today and finally at peace with my body 😌

[umsirifazendobarra]

it’s crazy that I went from thinking about how excited I was to be grown up and eat whatever foods I’d like to waiting for the day I’m grown so no one can make me eat

[bluechills]

I’ve come to realize that eating disorder cannot really be fully treated/fixed. Once you developed it, it just never goes away. Like, you can never look at foods the same way you used to.

[BooksAndChocolate]

Thanks for point out that eating disorders are about control. I had anorexia and it wasn't at all about wanting to get thin. I just felt that food was the only thing I could control in my life and every pound lost was a confirmation of that control. The core of the problem is more often than not much more complex than just "wanting to be thin enough".

[maedianee]

there are so many myths and misconceptions around all mental disorders but eating disorders specifically, thank you so much for trying to clear them up. there are maybe a couple more things you could have gone over but thankyou TED-ED for spreading awareness when possible :)

[kylemacinnes]

If the “your bmi is good and you are perfectly healthy” does not get cured we will have an ED pandemic. That one sentence is someone with an Ed’s worst nightmare.

[calamarinosquid]

I feel like one of the hardest parts of recovering from an ED, is that you’re never really “cured”, at any moment, at the slightest inconvenience, upsetting situation, or weight gain, you get those thoughts again, of “what if I just didn’t eat?”, or fall back into habits of eating your problems away that ultimately make your relationship with food worse than when you started recovery. The important thing isn’t to not have these thoughts, it’s to know how to deal with and ignore them, it’s not easy but you’ll pull through :)

[klaraj.]

The crucial part of my recovery was admitting that starving myself made me feel incredibly good. It was a coping mechanism and thus served its purpose. I needed to realize that before I could start to find other coping mechanisms. Ones that weren’t self destructive. And I’ve been recovered for a long time now. My relationship with food isn’t perfect but I’ve become addicted to nurturing myself. I can acknowledge that an empty stomach made me feel amazing, almost high in a way nothing else can and still want to remain recovered. I chose life. And I do so everyday. Every meal that I make for myself is a way of telling myself that I deserve to be fed. I deserve to have a strong body. I deserve a good life. It’s the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do but it’s not impossible.

[sIurms]

as a 17 year old boy, I was hospitalized for anorexia. i struggled a lot with how i looked especially since i do competitive swimming and struggle a lot with ocd. i struggled for about a year and a half before seeking help and in the end it was one of the best decisions i made. i can’t describe how tired, cold, and dead i felt. i lost all social abilities really and lost interest in a ton of things that i once loved. it physically hurt to do simple things such as smiling and laughing because i wasn’t getting the energy to do those simple tasks. I was always trying to seek validation through my eating disorder and never felt satisfied, and always thought i could go ‘further’ by malnourishing myself even more. One thing that fueled my eating disorder from the start was when people made any comments on how i looked. My mom would constantly comment how skinny i was and that i needed to gain weight. for a moment i would feel guilty and think to myself ‘alright’, but a little later i would feel almost satisfied and think that is what makes me attractive. i would also get comments that some of my features on my face look really good and such, and it really fueled my sickness. I want anyone who is struggling with an eating disorder to know that it’s a very challenging process and never feel you are invalid. you are not alone in this fight ❤️

[coveholdenmehostage]

It sucks that most of the time if you’re not underweight and seek help, doctors don’t do anything. No matter how severe it is, they look at you and say your fine. I went to a mental hospital inpatient and they still didn’t believe me there yet I’d been struggling with it for years. I’m not trying to stop people from getting help, I’m sure it helps a lot of people but there needs to be a change in the system in regarding eating disorder treatment

[AliceP.]

What a beautiful quote that is at the beginning. I went after it in full. It says: “There is no magic cure, no making it all go away forever. There are only small steps upward; an easier day, an unexpected laugh, a mirror that doesn't matter anymore.”

Such a great message.

[mayonutspoonsies]

Thank you for making this video. My sister is dying from an ed. The overall stigma, lack of knowledge, and limited treatment available is infuriating.

[missingmimic]

Just wanted to give hope, I've had an ED on and off since I was sixteen, turned fifty this year and I'm two years recovered. Keep trying, you can recover, it might take multiple attempts but it's possible 💗

[vturfieatbrthrghbe]

the saddest and hardest part of an eating disorder is when you realize you have one. the first time a developed an eating disorder i realized i had developed one when my mother asked me if i wanted food and in my mind i was saying yes please, but my mouth said no, i'm not hungry. it was so heartbreaking realizing that i had an eating disorder. the second time i developed another eating disorder i realize i had developed an ED again when i had to run to the bathroom after eating to throw up, it was when i was crying infront of the mirror because i didnt want to throw up and when i wad telling myself to just throw up one more time and another voice in my head was crying begging me not to do it again.

[ponkachu]

I really wish you had covered non-body image related eating disorders like ARFID and pica. I have ARFID, which is already extremely misunderstood and often misdiagnosed as anorexia. Not all eating disorders are because of poor body image. Mine is from sensory processing difficulties and anxiety. Please end the stigma against these lesser known disorders.

[XXDogXXLover]

For me, I think the worst thing is that I will never ever forget what is inside the food what I’m eating. I feel like I’ll always know how many calories are in food and I have to just try and eat it anyway instead of restricting. The guilt after “overeating” is hard to get over, but I’m getting there!

[featherlight]

I’ve been a “picky eater” for as long as I can remember. Something about certain smells and textures puts me off to most foods that people usually like. I’ve never had a big issue with how my body looks, and have never felt a need for control over anything, it’s simply been a factor of my life that has always been with me.
It’s caused a lot of conflict with my mother especially, and when she tried to put me through a sort of therapy program it only made me feel worse about myself and terrified of ever going back. It even made me start loosely counting calories and worry about my weight. I’ve tried to explain to her how I wish I was normal, how it isn’t a choice for me, but I don’t know if she’ll ever truly understand.
I can still get all my necessary vitamins and I like things in every food group. Overall, I’ve made peace with my situation and try to manage it as best as I can. Every once in a while I can even try something new and maybe I end up liking it. But for some people it will never be enough.
For years I have faced the shame of not eating what everyone else was eating, the shame of knowing that I might be hurting someone’s feelings without meaning to at all. It isn’t just some switch you can turn on and off, it’s always there. I just hope maybe people can begin to understand that.