Every so often in my work, I meet someone struggling with an eating disorder. Eating disorders are more common than most people think and according to some statistics, about 30 million people of all ages and genders live with eating disorders in the United States.

I am one of those people. I have lived with anorexia nervosa for 36 years. People say things to me such as, “Can’t you just eat something?” or “Just stop doing that.” It is not that easy. Anorexia gets inside you and lives there. I do not remember what it is like to live without anorexia. I cannot remember what my life was like before I started counting calories. I cannot remember what it was like to not look at my body and hate it. I cannot remember what it is like to think that if I eat, how long do I have to exercise tomorrow to burn off what I just ate? I do not remember what it is like to think that people looking at me think I am fat.

Eating disorders are complex mental illnesses that are difficult to treat. Some people believe eating disorders are simply about having a bad body image or wanting to be thin. There is more to eating disorders than just that. Some statistics indicate that every 62 minutes, at least one person dies as a direct result from an eating disorder. In fact, eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of any mental illness.

Anorexia is not the only eating disorder people live with. While I have struggled with it, others live with bulimia or binge eating disorder. Most eating disorders thrive on isolation. People living with eating disorders often feel alone in their illness. It is this isolation that can lead one living with an eating disorder to consider suicide.

Living with an eating disorder is not a choice. Anorexia becomes you. Bulimia becomes you. Binge eating becomes you. But, as with other mental illnesses, there is help available. Many mental health counselors specialize in treating eating disorders and more and more treatment facilities are working with patients living with eating disorders. If you or someone you know is living with an eating disorder, reach out. Your local hospital may be able to recommend an agency or therapist for treatment.