What’s Behind the New Surge in Eating Disorders?
Social media, diet culture and the COVID-19 pandemic fueled unhealthy food habits and dangerous conditions, along with efforts to curb the crisis. For Hannah Mayderry, the COVID-19 pandemic felt like “someone pressed the pause button.”
“I’d been rushing through life, and suddenly, I had all this time on my hands,” Mayderry, a licensed mental health counselor and therapist, says in an email. “I thought it was going to be great at first, but then, old demons resurfaced.” Mayderry, 27, has struggled in the past with disordered eating and body dysmorphia, constantly counting calories and going on multiple diets, including intermittent fasting and hormone-regulating regimens. During the pandemic, her negative thoughts returned, and old patterns again started to take form.
“The quiet moments were filled with critical thoughts about my body and analyzing everything I ate,” says Mayderry, who has dealt with these types of issues since she was 12 years old. “It’s almost as if my brain was trying to find something to keep itself occupied, and this was its twisted way of doing so.”
Excerpted from U.S. News
