Having an eating disorder is not something to be ashamed of, said Scarlett Pomers, star of the show “Reba” who personally struggled with anorexia nervosa.
Pomers will kick off National Eating Disorders Awareness Week at Towson University on Sunday with a free motivational speech about her experience with the disease.
The Center for Eating Disorders at Sheppard Pratt has joined with the Towson University Counseling Center to create a week of activities to educate people about eating disorders, starting with Pomers? speech.
“I think the main goal of an event like Sunday?s is to increase public awareness about eating disorders ? to help people recognize warning signs that an eating disorder is developing, that eating disorders are treatable and that there is hope,” said Dr. Steven Crawford, associate director of the Center for Eating Disorders at Sheppard Pratt.
The National Institutes of Health characterizes eating disorders as eating extremely little or severe overeating, as well as anxiety about body shape or weight.
Pomers, 18, said her anxiety came from within.
“I never had a problem with a producer telling me I had to lose weight, it stemmed from something within me,” she said. Perfectionism is often a component of eating disorders.
“It?s not so much what other people see, it?s what you see and you feel like there?s something wrong,” she said. “As women, we all have things about ourselves that we wish we could change, but nobody?s perfect. I wouldn?t hurt myself anymore and risk losing my life and my relationships and my job for the things that I feel like I need to change.”
Free eating disorder screenings will be offered throughout the week at Sheppard Pratt, from Feb. 25 to March 3, Crawford said.
