Trigger warning: The following article contains language regarding disordered eating.
COVID-19 turned the world upside down, exacerbating the physical and mental health issues already plaguing vulnerable populations.
For individuals struggling witheating disorders, the pandemic was particularly brutal.
Clinicians treating the most severe cases of eating disorders experienced firsthand how terribly COVID-19 impacted their patients.
Likewise, a study from theAmerican Academy of Pediatricssaw a more than two-fold increase in hospital admissions.
Researchers also observed extended hospital stays, especially for younger patients.
Why the pandemic wreaked such havoc on individuals with eating disorders has been the subject of much investigation.
The way we ate changed during the pandemic, notes research in theInternational Journal of Eating Disorders.
For others, the result was the “quarantine 15” the genuine phenomenon ofpandemic weight gain.
For many of us, the lines between mealtimes became blurred, and so did our food intake.
We also changed the way we moved.
Stuck inside our living spaces, large swaths of the world lost access to exercise.
For these reasons, the stress of COVID-19 uniquely impacted folks struggling with these sometimes life-threatening mental disorders.
But during COVID-19, social distancing made that kind of human connection impossible.
Years from now, we’ll look back and recall the anxious hours we lost todoomscrollingon our phones.
If you are struggling with an eating disorder, or know someone who is, help is available.
