College stress might cause eating disorders

Amy sat on her bed in her residence hall room, waiting for the lights to turn off. Her roommate hit the switch after what seemed like a lifetime. She waited for the steady breathing that was the signal that her roommate was asleep, and then made her move.

She crept quietly to the bathroom, shut the door then knelt by the toilet bowl. She took in a shaky breath. She stuck her forefinger down her throat and vomited all of the contents of her dinner that night.

After Amy was finished she proceeded to lie down on the cold tile. She thought of the exams she had coming up and the unfinished paper that was due in two days. She thought of her family back home, whom she missed terribly.

She also thought about how this was not what she imagined her first year of college would be like. She wondered if she was the only college freshman going through what she was.

Amy is now a junior at Ohio State. Amy, who requested her real name not be used, was suffering from bulimia nervosa, an eating disorder that can occur in females and males, but mostly occurs in females. By their first year of college, 4.5 to 18 percent of women and 0.4 percent of men have a history of bulimia, according to the Food and Drug Administration.

Amy came to college enthusiastic about her new life. She was excited to make new friends and to just be part of a new environment. She was not worried about bulimia. However, the onset of eating disorders is often associated with a stressful life event, such as leaving home for college.

Amy described how she felt when she would make herself sick at school.

"When I would throw up, I felt relieved to get all the food out. I would eat a whole ton, and it would make me feel nauseous. It would feel so good to get it all out," Amy said.

People who suffer from bulimia usually eat a large amount of food in a discrete period of time, and then in order to prevent weight gain, promote self-induced vomiting. They can also abuse laxatives, enemas and other medications.

Anorexia nervosa is another eating disorder that occurs when sufferers refuse to maintain a normal body weight. They prevent weight gain by restricting food for hours or even days at a time.

Dr. Lisa Werner, a clinical assistant professor of psychiatry, has experience with patients that have eating disorders. She agrees that college freshmen, leaving home for the first time, might experience an increase in the risk of developing an eating disorder because of a lifestyle change.

"Change is stressful. Leaving home for college is perceived as so, and it can lead to an eating disorder," Werner said.

Not only is the change in lifestyle a factor, but also the college lifestyle can lead to either anorexia or bulimia. With the increase of homework and pressure, students might find themselves desperate for control over something in their lives, including their weight.

"Students may feel that they do not have a lot of control over anything in their lives, but they feel they can take control of their bodies," Werner said.

For students who come to college already suffering from an eating disorder, further distance from friends and family might provide an easier atmosphere to hide their disorder.

Amy found that without the supervision of her mother, she could easily get away with purging while living at school.

"I found it easier to get away with it because nobody at school knew me and at home my mom would watch me like a hawk. She would have my friends watch me at school," she said.

Amy lost 20 pounds from vomiting and restricting her diet. She said the pressures in society to be attractive by maintaining a low weight induced her bulimia. She eventually stopped when she met her current boyfriend of two years.

"I called him whenever I felt I needed to do it," she said.

With the stresses of a new life in college, residence hall roommates need to be leery of their new friends and suitemates. If a friend is restricting food, exercising excessively or sneaking off to the bathroom after almost every meal, he or she might be suffering from an eating disorder.

Werner advised friends to encourage those with eating disorder to get professional help.

"These diseases are difficult to treat, and they need help," she said. "Eating disorders can be deadly."

The Ohio State Office of Counseling and Consultation Service provides services to students suffering from eating disorders. The office is located in the Younkin Success Center and hosts a psychotherapy group for students suffering from anorexia or bulimia.

Penny Winkle is a clinical social worker at Counseling and Consultation Service and one of the leaders of the psychotherapy group. She said she thinks the group helps because students can be themselves in front of people they can respect and care about who are going through the same things they are.

"An eating disorder is an isolating illness because people will not share their feelings with friends and family because they feel a lot of shame," Winkle said.

Students talk with each other and leaders about a variety of different topics.

"We talk a little bit about eating issues, but more about how we don't have to be flawless to be cared about. Lots of challenges come in life, and we talk about how to manage those problems," Winkle said.

To join the psychotherapy group, a student must become a patient. To become a patient, students must go through a brief screening process that lasts about 20 minutes. Every student is entitled to come to the counseling center regardless of having student health insurance.

"If students have body image issues, I really encourage them to come," Winkle said.

For more information about Counseling and Consultation Service and the psychotherapy group, students can e-mail Penny Winkle at winkle.2@osu.edu or visit the CCS Web site at ccs.ohio-state.edu.