As noted in our previous post, this week is very important week for us at Casa Palmera, Eating Disorders Awareness Week (EDAW). This year’s EDAW theme is “I Had No Idea,” a very strong and powerful message. Considering how many of us struggle with eating issues, it is a shame that we feel so scared to talk about what is really going on behind closed doors, leaving our closest friends and loved ones in the dark. They might be the first to help us find recovery if they knew, but instead they genuinely have “No Idea” of what we’re going through.
“I Had No Idea” can have many different meanings:
With this goal in mind, Casa Palmera is partnering with Jessica Setnick, an experienced eating disorder specialist, who will spend the next year speaking out about eating disorders and what we know about causes and treatments. Ms. Setnick envisions a world where no one is ashamed to talk about their eating issues, because they are better understood as symptoms of other, treatable, causes.
In recovery from her own eating disorder for two decades, Ms. Setnick helped found the first Children’s Eating Disorders Program in her hometown of Dallas, then practiced for 15 years helping individuals in recovery. She spoke earlier this month on behalf of Casa Palmera on the connections between Eating Disorders and Obesity at the Mental Health Association Symposium in Dallas, and is spending this Eating Disorder Awareness Week in Edinburgh, Scotland, where she will provide testimony before the Scottish House of Parliament. Eating disorders have become an issue of national concern in Scotland since Parliament Member Dennis Robertson’s young daughter tragically died from her eating disorder. Casa Palmera is honored to be represented in the discussion by Ms. Setnick, the only American on the panel.
You can get information about EDAW events that are being held in your area. If there are no events in your area, NEDA can help you get one started in time for next year’s EDAW. And whether you are reading this during EDAW or any other time of year, please don’t hesitate to call Casa Palmera’s 24-hour intake like for more information about treatment options and whether Casa Palmera can help. Casa Palmera’s hope is that by next year’s EDAW there will be far fewer people who can say, “I Had No Idea.”
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