Oklahoma Christian University students worked to raise awareness for mental health last week, specifically eating disorders during Eating Disorder Awareness Week. By partnering with the campus counseling center and using social media to start the conversation, Oklahoma Christian students shared stories of struggle and recovery with the rest of the student body.
Senior Gabby Bridgeman and sophomore Sydni Lehr both spoke in chapel about eating disorders, giving their testimonies while working to provide a light and hope to their peers.
For Lehr, she said recognizing an eating disorder in oneself can be more complicated than it may seem.
“All of my friends already knew I had an eating disorder [before I decided to admit it to them]—I was the last to know,” Lehr said.
Lehr said she encourages students struggling with eating disorders to seek help in any form.
“You don’t have to do it by yourself if you have an issue and are afraid— just don’t be,” Lehr said. “Come to me or the counseling center. You can even go in the back door of the counseling center, which I think is awesome.”
Oklahoma Christian counselor Brenda Gunter said eating disorders are complicated, idiosyncratic mental illnesses, and the best way to help a struggling friend is encouraging them to come to counseling.
“A lot of time, people with eating disorders become obsessed with their weight or how they view themselves or have a negative body image,” Gunter said.
According to the National Eating Disorder Association (NEDA), anorexia is the third most common chronic disease among young people, after asthma and type 1 diabetes. NEDA also said prevention methods for eating disorders often do not work—anorexia does not end after someone tells another to eat— and mental illnesses are far more complex.
NEDA said, red flags indicating someone may be struggling with an eating disorder include dramatic weight change, avoiding eating meals or snacks, labeling food as good or bad, obsessive exercise, calculating calories, obsession about size and shape and weighting everyday or more than once a day.
Bridgeman said spreading awareness through events like the Oklahoma Christian scale slam and Eating Disorder Awareness Week can benefit both strugglers and non-strugglers of eating disorders.
“I think [spreading awareness] is really important for a lot of reasons,” Bridgeman said. “Our campus is good at promoting awareness for a lot of things and I just saw a need for awareness of eating disorders, because I hadn’t really seen that. So, I thought bringing awareness would be great.”
At the Oklahoma Christian counseling center, the first session for students is free. According to Gunter, the next few are at a cost significantly lower than other counseling services.
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