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Young people all over the world are dying from eating disorders simply because they cannot afford care. Many more are destitute or have left their families with insurmountable bills from years of receiving treatment. While much has been written and said about the physical and psychological devastation caused by anorexia and bulimia, the media is just beginning to recognize that accessibility to funding for treatment could be the difference between life and death.
Among the estimated six to eight million people in the United States with eating disorders, anorexia has the highest mortality rate among all psychiatric disorders, according to the latest research. Even more startling is that without treatment, up to 20 percent of people with serious eating disorders will die. However, with treatment, this number decreases to about two to three percent. In fact, about 60 percent of people with eating disorders recover with treatment and are able to maintain a healthy lifestyle.
Sadly, the necessary treatment is costly to the point of inaccessibility to many of those who need it the worst. On average, it takes two or three hospitalizations with long- term follow-up care to recover from an eating disorder. The average length of stay for someone requiring inpatient hospitalization is seven days, and the costs run between $4,900-$7,000 per hospitalization. Day treatment, which is a step down from an inpatient unit or a way to prevent an inpatient stay, costs between $4,500-$9,000 for fifteen days.
Moreover, effective eating disorder treatment lasts an average of three to five years, and many insurance companies do not provide adequate coverage for these illnesses. Recovery from an eating disorder not only requires multiple hospital stays, but also includes the necessity for prolonged follow-up care. Costs add up, and most insurance policies don’t allow for the relapses that are a part of many successful recoveries. All these factors make effective, lasting treatment difficult, often impossible, to obtain.
Recognizing that many people devastated by eating disorders were unable to get treatment because of their inability to pay, Jennifer L. Kelman founded Healing Connections, Inc., a non-profit organization. The funds raised by the organization are used to save lives through education, prevention, intervention and advocacy for people suffering from anorexia and bulimia. Fund raising to help defray the overwhelming cost of treatment for those who desperately need help is one of the founding principles of the organization. Kelman, founder and executive director, is a certified social worker who has spent more than 11 years working directly with patients with anorexia, bulimia and compulsive overeating. “I have witnessed the emotional and physical agony people go through when they suffer from anorexia and bulimia,” says Kelman. “Our hope is to give them the chance to ease their pain.”
Certainly eating disorders are unique among illnesses in that they do not descend upon a healthy body in the form of a tumor or bacteria, so Healing Connections works hard in the area of prevention as well. “A vital component of preventing eating disorders is through awareness,” says Kelman. The organization provides literature and workshops that tell people how to recognize an eating disorder along with when and where to get treatment.
The reasons for this crisis of body image are many and complex. Pressure and remarks from family and friends all contribute to body insecurities. Even other women add to the problem because, though they are all in the same plight, women are not kind to each other when it comes to judging others’ bodies. A major culprit, though, is the media. A study at Arizona State University looking at the effects of thin imagery, found that the more media-saturated a woman was, the greater her chance of manifesting symptoms of an eating disorder.
Only a few decades ago, models were only eight percent thinner than the average woman (five-feet-four, 140 pounds, dress size 12). Today, the models are 23 percent thinner than the average. “Our bodies haven’t changed,” Kelman says, “but our ideals have. Contemporary ideals of society cause young women to strive for a body that is unattainable without sacrificing health.”
Of the many lectures Kelman gives at various venues, one in particular focuses on the unrealistic body images promoted by the media. This kind of education through awareness is important,” says Kelman, “at a time when statistics show that 50 percent of nine-year-olds report being on a diet. In fact, one of every 10 young women has a serious eating disorder.”
But for all the awareness, questions remain, many involving the realization that the media is not about to change. What does one do to escape it? According to Kelman, the answer is to “refuse to accept media icons as the ideal. Put less emphasis on food as reward or punishment. In addition,” she said, “find a way to feel good about body image regardless of appearance. There are many qualities, so many wonderful things about women about which we can feel good.”
Supporters fund educational programs presented by Healing Connections to thousands of people across the United States — students in grade schools, high schools and colleges, along with adults from every spectrum of society. Some of these programs are:
- Identification of Eating Disorders and Body Image Disturbances
- Peer Pressure and Body Image
- The Media, and its Impact on Body Image
- Eating Disorders and Female Development
- Body Image and the Media. Sensitivity Between Boys and Girls
- Body Image and Society
- How Can We Feel Good About Our Bodies?
- Reclaiming Your Body: Finding Joy and Acceptance while Healing Body Image Issues
- Reclaiming Your Body: Accepting Yourself as size 2 or 22
Ms. Kelman has been involved in the treatment of eating disorders since September 1989, when she began her training, working on an inpatient unit at the New York State Psychiatric Institute, one of the leading research institutions in the country. Upon completing her master’s degree, she worked in an adolescent eating disorder unit and was affiliated with a nationally recognized program for its work in the treatment of eating disorders. “I got tired of seeing very sick women being unable to get treatment; it was devastating,” said the young and spirited Kelman, “I had to do something.” She left the program and founded Healing Connections, stepping in as an advocate for women to help combat eating disorders and body image disturbances before they cause pain in more lives.
Healing Connections has helped many women who have all said they would have died had they not received treatment. They can also tell of the personal financial sacrifices they and their families have made over the years.
Healing Connections, Inc. is available for public speaking, support, referrals to treatment, or any questions one may have about suffering from an Eating Disorder. For more information or to inquire about a donation to help support this effort, contact Healing Connections by calling 212/585-3450 or e-mail: healconn@aol.com. You can also visit their website at www.healingconnections.org.
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