Eating disorders are serious mental health conditions resulting in significant damage, with anorexia having the highest mortality rate of all forms of psychiatric illness. While the exact cause of these disorders remains unknown, it is likely that multiple factors lead to anorexia, bulimia or binge eating disorder.
Anorexic Role Models
When a person chooses to pursue a career as an actor, pop star, model or television personality, regardless of whether the individual deserves it or not, he or she is likely to be seen as a role model, particularly to vulnerable young people. In an ideal world, all role models would exhibit behaviour, which any loving parent would find acceptable. However, one can scarcely turn on the television, watch a film or read a magazine without being perpetually bombarded with images of skeletal bodies. These 'anorexic role models' are extremely damaging to self esteem and can lead impressionable teens to unconsciously link looking stick-thin to fame and fortune.
Eating Disorders and Celebrity Endorsement
While there are certainly celebrities who have successfully overcome eating disorders and gone on to have high profile careers, such as singer, songwriter and author of Life Without Ed, Jenni Schaefer, others have written seriously triggering life stories. For example, writing about specific weights is a massive trigger for many people battling to recover. In Ira Sacker's fantastic eating disorder recovery resource, Regaining Your Self, he identifies the potential dangers associated with 'the celebrity syndrome,' to include as follows:
- celebrities appearing on talk shows rarely mention the misery of life with an eating disorder
- making out that it only takes a few therapy sessions or weeks in inpatient treatment to 'cure' them
- promoting the misconception that eating disorders are akin to childhood illness - something you just get and recover from without intensive long-term support
- some sufferers view celebrities revealing eating disorders as endorsing such behaviour
- using eating disorder stories to promote careers gets misinterpreted as a trend by children
Recovery Vs Denial
A real problem associated with celebrities going public about eating disorders and other mental health problems is when they claim to be recovered despite it being blindingly obvious to health professionals and sufferers alike that this is clearly not the case. This is especially relevant to anorexia recovery, with BMI 20 being the common target weight for physical well-being. It is so unhelpful and potentially triggering, not to mention insulting to those desperately working towards getting well, to see celebrities being praised for their 'recovery' when they are still blatantly underweight. The false message this sends to eating disorder sufferers is you can be recovered and still be stick-thin, undermining all the efforts of therapists, doctors, psychiatrists and other specialists who maintain that without weight restoration recovery is not possible.
As highlighted above, the mixed messages between celebrities and the health profession about eating disorders can cause serious conflict. It is important to remember that genuine recovery cannot be achieved without gaining weight. In reality, away from the false, distorted images the media likes to project, there is nothing remotely glamorous about being terribly unwell.
Source:
Sacker, I. Regaining Your Self Florida: Health Communications
Kate Le Page - Kate Henning-Le Page writes about eating disorders, body image and recovery issues. She specializes in anorexia recovery.
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