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With the heart of Hollywood just over the hill, UCLA students combat messages about the hypothetical ideal body type every day, helping to lead many high school and college students to develop eating disorders such as anorexia, bulimia and compulsive overeating. These devastating conditions produce both physical and psychological suffering for their victims, ranging from difficulties in concentration to severe malnutrition. “Sometimes disordered eating can be triggered by difficult transitions, and that’s where coming to college can be a stressor that can make people feel vulnerable,” said Sally Melvin-Pick, a licensed clinical social worker and senior staff member at Student Psychological Services. Erin Naimi, a registered dietician who was once involved with the Outpatient Eating Disorder Program at the UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute, explains that although there are technically three separate types of eating disorders, many people experience a combination of them. “For a lot of people it’s a dance, going between anorexia and bulimia. ... Anorexia is so limiting and restricting that most people find it impossible to maintain that type of restriction.” According to the Student Nutrition (and Body Image) Action Committee (SNAC), an on-campus organization dedicated to helping UCLA students maintain healthy lifestyles and improve body image, symptoms of anorexia nervosa include extremely low body weight (lower than 85 percent of normal body weight), a strong fear of weight gain and, in women, a complete cessation of menstruation, while bulimia nervosa is characterized by cycles of binge eating followed by efforts to compensate through self-induced vomiting, misuse of laxatives or excessive exercising. Naimi explains that there are many potential causes for eating disorders, including stressful family structures and psychological factors such as sexual abuse or Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Socio-cultural factors such as the messages transmitted via movies, billboards, and magazines, can also manifest themselves as such disorders. “Everybody sees ads in the media (that display people with an ideal body type), and not everyone develops eating disorders. But psychological influences coupled with the influence of the media can definitely be the straw that breaks the camel’s back,” Naimi said. Undeclared second year student Jessica Liang agrees, “It’s very deceitful of the entertainment industry to portray people as something they can’t be,” she said. “The images they portray aren’t even real. They try to give someone a sense of this unattainable image—an unreachable goal—but you can never have it because you can’t airbrush in real life.” UCLA offers many opportunities for students to help themselves and others treat their eating disorders. Student Psychological services offers counseling for students suffering from eating disorders, while the Residential Health Education Committee (RHEC) helps provide support for students who live on campus by educating dorm residents about how to keep themselves healthy. When designing treatments for an eating disorder, both Naimi and Melvin-Pick recommend a team approach that includes a medical professional. “More people die from anorexia than from any other mental illness, including depression and schizophrenia,” Melvin-Pick said. Anorexia can increase the risk of osteoporosis among young women who stop menstruating, while chronic bulimia can damage the esophagus and teeth. “For severe conditions, an inpatient program is most advantageous. It provides the person with around-the-clock support,” Naimi said. When people starve themselves, their bodies resort to self-preservation tactics, causing many to crave food so strongly that they binge, Naimi said. Then, in an effort to regain control over their bodies, people experience a longing to purge or to restrict their diets again in a vicious cycle. “Nutrition is a really crucial component because unless someone is nutritionally stable, their body’s going to sabotage the process of recovery,” Naimi said. As a registered dietician, Naimi helps patients overcome eating disorders using a variety of techniques. “We slowly reintroduce a new healthful way of eating—we look at fear of foods, help them deal with their emotional stress, and give them new coping mechanisms so they don’t use food or restricting food to deal with their issues.” But Naimi says the first step to dealing with an eating disorder is to find a source of support—whether it is a counselor, friend, or parent—and acknowledge that there is a problem. “It’s always nice to have a group of people you can rely on, that can give (you) positive reinforcement and help you get down to the root of the problem,” Liang said. “I think with eating disorders, people feel like they’re being judged. It’s easier to get through that with people who are supportive and non-judgmental.” “People starve themselves out of a lot of aspects of life,” Melvin-Pick said. “My advice would be not to settle for less than a full life—to have meaningful relationships, to want to learn and to play.”