The Wilton High School chapter of “Let’s Erase the Stigma” (LETS), a student group focused on eradicating the stigma surrounding mental illness, is sponsoring “National Eating Disorders Awareness Week” at the school. The event is a program created by the National Eating Disorders Association.
The LETS group posted pictures on their Facebook page of signs they hung covering mirrors in bathrooms around the school, painted with phrases meant to draw attention to body dissatisfaction, the one of the best-known contributors to the development of an eating disorder.
The goal of National Eating Disorders Awareness Week (#NEDAwareness Week) is to put the spotlight on the seriousness of eating disorders and to improve public understanding of their causes, triggers and treatments. By increasing awareness and access to resources, the organizations hope to encourage early detection and intervention, which can improve the likelihood of full recovery for millions.
According to the NEDA website, “20 million women and 10 million men in the U.S. suffer from a clinically significant eating disorder at some time in their life, including anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, binge eating disorder, or an eating disorder not otherwise specified.”
During the 2014 awareness campaign, NEDA saw a marked increase in people seeking help: there was a 67 percent increase in helpline traffic, an 83 percent increase in visitors to the NEDA website, and a 143 percent increase in online eating disorder screening.