The second most deadly mental illness…
- Vanessa Elias
- Feb 27
- 3 min read
Dear Friends,
Many people don’t realize that eating disorders are the second most deadly mental illnesses, only after opioid addiction.
It’s an especially challenging disorder as it thrives in secrecy, often isn’t apparent, or even unknowingly celebrated, especially because we live in a culture that has normalized obsession with food and appearance. Even as parents, we think we are being supportive of “healthy eating” and exercise, only to find out later that our good intentions reinforced a beast taking over our child.
I also know that this isn’t a topic that’s easy to read about, because so many of us have been touched in one way or another by eating disorders.
As parents and people who care for our communities, we need to talk about it in order to bring awareness, education, and offer support and resources. This way, we can combat the stigma, misinformation, and shame that keep it hidden. Nothing good grows in the dark (well, except for truffles.)
It’s Eating Disorder Awareness Week, and many people will participate in the campaign “Not One More” with The National Alliance for Eating Disorders. Not One More life is lost, Not One More child is taken, and Not One More precious moment is destroyed by this insidious disease. The facts about eating disorders are sobering:
Over 30 million Americans will have an eating disorder in their lifetime
Someone dies every 52 minutes as a direct result of an eating disorder
Less than 6% of people with eating disorders are medically diagnosed as “underweight”
Rates of eating disorders in males are increasing at a faster rate than for females
But statistics never fully capture what I have seen, both personally and professionally, in the terror and the struggle of the lives of families walking through this. Eating disorders don’t just affect one person; they also can consume the lives of parents and siblings, impacting friendships, school, and work. They steal joy, hijack your life, and create fear. They sabotage you and rob you of your life.
Eating disorders become the loudest voice in a person’s head and take over a person’s focus toward food, numbers, body image, excessive exercise, comparison, and control. It starts out small and becomes all-consuming for every person it takes over. If you’re walking this road in some capacity, I want you to hear this clearly: you didn’t cause this, and there is help – and there most definitely is hope.
In fact, eating disorders thrive in isolation because they shrink the world, whereas connection can bring recovery. And while connection can never replace therapy or clinical and medical needs, it does bring a layer of belonging, connection, and love that can be protective.
Our kids need adults who know them, neighbors who greet them, spaces where they are valued beyond their performance or appearance, and a community that sees them as a whole. This is one of the reasons I care so deeply about helping neighborhoods host block parties.
And no, micro-local gatherings sadly won’t cure eating disorders, but they do strengthen the very fabric around families, reduce isolation, create wider support networks, and create more eyes, care, and belonging for everyone. Resilience can grow when families know their neighbors, teens have safe adults around them, and parents feel less alone.
If you or someone in your family struggles with an eating disorder, or you wonder if they might, please join me at “Not One More Weekend,” starting today through Sunday, March 1st. It’s a three-day weekend built on the pillars of what The National Alliance for Eating Disorders does: help, support, and recovery.
There is help and hope. You don’t have to walk this road alone.
And even if you’re gratefully not currently affected by eating disorders, you can be educated to know what to be aware of and be a part of building a world where fewer families feel like they have to walk it alone.
Not one more.
With care,
