I sat down with my school counsellor, Ylva Frohm, and had a chat about anorexia and her role in helping students that may be or are suffering from an eating disorder. We talked for over and hour and I was very pleased to see her thoughts about eating disorders coincided with my conception of the condition. My main focus with this interview was to get an understanding for what a school counsellor does if a student suffering from an eating disorder comes to her, and also to hear her view on eating disorders.

F = Fashtastic
YF = Ylva Frohm

F: Naturally, there are several reasons why someone develops an eating disorder. What reasons do you see as the most common?

YF: There are so many reasons, it differs from person to person and depending on their situation in life and the choices and pressures they are put through. A lot of people have high ambitions, they want to get good grades, be good in school, good at sports and everything else they do. Eventually the pressures are too much for them to handle, they feel they cannot control anything so they start controlling their eating because that is something they know they can control. Another factor in this could be if there are problems in the household, the child may develop an eating disorder to divert the parent’s attention. For instance, the child could do this to try to make the parents stop fighting, and direct their attention to the child instead.

F: As a school counsellor, how do you feel you can help students that may be or are suffering from anorexia?

YF: In dealing with a student I think am worried is suffering from anorexia, or that has friends that have come to me expressing their worries over a students health, it is always hard because the first thing the person in question does is deny any accusations of that they may have any type of problems with food. In obvious and severe cases the school is forced to take help from an outside organization specializing in helping people with eating disorders. In my job as a school counsellor I do not have the education or ability to cure the student.

F: Are eating disorders common among the students you talk to?

YF: I cannot say for sure as I do not have any statistics covering these things but off the top of my head I would say that there is at least someone in every class, someone that is obsessing over their food intake, or in general obsessing over food issues. Even some really young students show alarming behavior and express unhealthy ideas concerning food. I also have friends of students coming and talking to me, concerned about a fellow student possibly being in a risk zone and on the verge of developing an eating disorder.

F: There are a lot of misconceptions about eating disorders floating around, what are some of the biggest misconceptions or myths you have heard about eating disorders?

YF: That you can tell by looking at someone that they have an eating disorder, that you can tell on the outside. Which isn’t true in all cases, it is possible to have an eating disorder without it being completely visible on the outside. Eating disorders are mainly psychological, it’s the way the person thinks and reasons, you cannot always tell by checking if the person is emaciated or not. Another misconception is that people often think someone suffering from an eating disorder is selfish and constantly only thinking about themselves, meaning they are trying to make people in the surroundings feel bad and feel sorry for them and that all the person in question really cares about is themselves and their appearance. Also including that the person in question is a very shallow person, only thinking about their appearance.

F: According to a book I am currently reading as research for this project, titled “The secret language of eating disorders” written by Peggy Claude-Pierre, people develop an eating disorder through something called Confirmed Negativity Condition (CNC) which is an extremely strong self-hatred. Is this something you could consider being true?

YF: Yes, to a certain extent but I think there are several other reasons why someone develops an eating disorder. Many people I am sure have that voice, but not everyone suffering from an eating disorder.

F: Have you ever met someone that has described these self-hatred thoughts, this inner voice encouraging them to refuse food and loose weight?

YF: Yes, some students have described thoughts they have about loosing weight, about their appearance and how they are a burden to everyone. Some students say things like “I don’t understand how people can stand to be around me, I’m such a horrible person”.

F: Do you think eating disorders are the effect of what media is telling us is the ideal size today?

YF: I am sure that is one possible cause but there are several others too, as mentioned there is not only one cause of anorexia.

F: What do you think is the most important thing to think about as a parent or friend of someone suffering an eating disorder?

YF: First of all, coming to terms with that your daughter, son or friend is suffering from an eating disorder. Many parents are in denial over their child’s state as they do not see it as something that could affect “their family”. Another reason parents deny it is sometimes because they simply do not know how to handle it, what to do to help their child. Second, very important to consider is that you must have patience. In order to help your child you must be patient and support them through it all, realize right away that recovering from an eating disorder is nothing that happens overnight, it take months and sometimes years. And third it is very important that family members dealing with the child suffering from anorexia also get help through talking to a therapist as something like this takes a great toll on everyone in the family, not only the person suffering. It is very important that everyone gets support and help to be able to stay strong and patient in order to help the person suffering from anorexia.

F: What do you think can and should be done to raise awareness of eating disorders in today’s society?

YF: What you are doing! Informing, using the ideas you have to reach out to as broad of an audience as possible. Another great new thing that is just starting is something called Bodytalk. The Swedish organization for Eating Disorders has started this course which involves teaching children, at an early age, about themselves, talking about things like self-esteem, body image etc. This has been introduced to try to raise awareness and stop eating disorders. And a third thing that could be a possible solution is letting someone suffering from an eating disorder go to a dietitian to learn what is important to eat to stay healthy, of course it is hard to know if this will actually work as some people will of course use this in the wrong was and apply it to their already unhealthy lifestyle.

F: And finally, do you think eating disorders are becoming somewhat of a trend, to imply that you have an eating disorder even though you do not, just to get attention, or to develop an eating disorder because it is so common these days?

YF: Yes, I definitely think this is becoming somewhat of a trend, I was just thinking about that myself. So many young girls are developing eating disorders, it has become quite common to refuse food or watch what you are eating, go on diets, watch your weight etc.



Photography by Christina Eriksson