Local organizations collaborate for National Eating Disorder Awareness Week

Trigger warning: This article contains discussion of eating disorders.

Approximately nine percent of Montanans — around 93,512 people — will have an eating disorder in their lifetime, according to Harvard’s 2020 Strategic Training Initiative for the Prevention of Eating Disorders program. The same report found that in Montana, about 33 people die each year as a direct result of eating disorders. 

Feb. 23 to March 1 is National Eating Disorder Awareness Week. In recognition, the Bozeman treatment center Eating Disorder Center of Montana (EDCMT) is holding a Q&A with eating disorder professionals on Saturday, Feb. 28 at Your Yoga studio.  

According to Elysa White, the executive director at EDCMT, therapists and registered dietitians from the clinic will lead Saturday’s panel. White said discussions will center on eating disorders, diet culture and body image.

“[Eating disorders] thrive in isolation and usually are quite hidden,” she said. “There can be some shame and guilt around that, and also receiving help can feel really hard — there's a lot of stigma around mental health and receiving treatment. 

“We want everyone to feel like there is a resource, that there's support in the community, that they don't have to do this alone, and that we're here to help them through this.We want people to be able to live out loud, wholeheartedly and be themselves,” she said. 

White said the center offers holistic, evidence-based treatment — such as family-based therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy and dialectical behavioral therapy — to patients aged 12 and older. At intake, patients meet with a registered dietitian and a therapist to assess the level of care they require. A treatment program is then recommended to best serve the patient’s needs, according to EDCMT’s website. 

“Our vision is really to create a future where patients can live out loud,” White said. “They overcome their eating disorder [through] access to care — which is compassionate, expert patient care.”

Additionally, she said EDCMT is dedicated to raising community awareness through preventative education.

“Eating disorders have one the highest mortality rates of any mental health disorder,” she said. “95 percent of individuals with eating disorders are between the ages of 12 and 25. 

“Focusing on that early prevention and early treatment can make a huge difference in the long term success of people's recovery — that early treatment really leads to a higher rate of full remission, especially with adolescents,” she said.  

EDCMT is also collaborating with Country Bookshelf this week. Staff at the bookstore have curated a display of books focused on body image, diet culture and relationships with food. 

“We are a third space to our community,” said Marion Bowler, the front-of-house manager at Country Bookshelf. “A lot of people come in kind of looking and trying to find resources that they may not be able to find elsewhere.” 

Bowler said stigmas associated with eating disorders can prevent people from seeking help, but partnerships with community organizations such as EDCMT can make it easier to access resources. 

“I think when people are able to come into a space that is inviting and welcoming and there is no strain or pressure to have a certain idea about anything. People are more at ease [and] able to say, ‘This is what I'm looking for,’” she said. 

Saturday’s event is free and open to the public. White said EDCMT aims to increase community access to education and support.

“[We help] people feel like they can live out loud, that they can be themselves, that they can feel comfortable in their skin and not have to miss out on opportunities that are really important for their life, their joy, their happiness,” she said. 

For more information about Saturday’s panel, visit https://tinyurl.com/53kwpb8d.