Mental health articles

An essential aspect of outreach is training student groups like resident assistants (RAs) and health educators. RAs, in particular, are oft en on the front lines in recognizing and responding to problems. Our training program reviews the defi nitions of eating disorders and warning signs of possible eating problems, clarifi es gray areas like how […]

How to prevent eating disorders Living with someone who regularly starves, binges, or purges can be very stressful. Emotional reactions range from panic to resentment, and concrete confl icts range from hoarded food that goes rotten to messy bathrooms. Roommates may be tempted to silently accommodate the eating disordered student or to ostracize her. Some […]

Who Stays and Who Goes? Th e Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 prohibit colleges and universities from discriminating against individuals with physical or mental disabilities. By law, students with eating disorders have the right to attend institutions of higher education. Academic institutions can, however, request and even require […]

Eating disorders carry numerous serious health risks and can be fatal. Anorexia is the most potentially fatal of all the psychiatric disorders, with a mortality rate as high as 20% among the most severely ill, most commonly resulting from cardiac arrest or suicide (American Psychiatric Association, 2000). Mortality resulting from bulimia is much less common, […]

Nutritional counseling for eating disorders Nutritionists help clients stabilize eating patterns by addressing dietary defi – ciencies and excesses and correcting food- and weight-related distortions with education about the body’s functioning and nutritional requirements. Clients are helped to eat a variety of healthful foods and, when necessary, to restore their weight to a normal level. […]