In Thursday’s post from the study USA Today did on Binge Eating Disorders, there was a sentence that read, “estimates of eating-disorder cases are probably low because people are very ashamed of these and tend to under-report them”. I can only imagine what the true number of cases would be if everyone reported it.
The secret shame the study mentioned is so very real. I had incredible shame and hid my binge eating from everyone including my husband. What’s funny (not in a haha way though) is that I hid my disorder from the people I knew would NOT judge me! But there is this secret feeling a binge eater has inside that tells her to hide because if people saw what she really ate they would be repulsed and lose respect for her instantly.
Now I know if you are reading this and you are a family member of a binge eater you are shaking your head saying, “I would never do that!”
I know.
But if you have never walked in the shoes of a binge eater you simply can’t know the secret shame.
Now I ask you if you are a binge eater why you think we can’t admit this to the people we love? Is it because we are not ready to begin healing? Or that we think they will kick us in the ass instead of help us? Are the relationships we are in that bad for us that we feel we cannot speak of a food disorder that affects millions of people around the world? Are we just not educated enough about the disorder?
I think in the end it is up to each one of us to decide on WHAT we want to feel, WHEN we want to feel it and HOW long we want to feel it for.
Think of what your life would be like if you did not have an eating disorder or secret shame.
-Nadine Ann, C.N., H.H.P.