Exclusive ~ Eating Disorders Interview, Part I: Smashing Stereotypes
November 5, 2008 by angelique
Filed under Women's Health
Note: This is the first in a three-part series interview between Breaking the Mirror and Michael J. Pertschuk, M.D.
Dr. Pertschuk is a psychiatrist at Friends Hospital in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He serves as Medical Director of the Eating Disorders Program at Friends Hospital which includes inpatient treatment for male and female adults, adolescents and children suffering from anorexia, bulimia and binge eating disorder.
To read more of his biography, see the bottom of part III of this series.
Breaking the Mirror (BtM):
How have eating disorders begun to affect Asian, African American and Latino/Latina cultures?
Michael J. Pertschuk (MJP):
Eating disorders are not new to Asians, African Americans or Latinos. At Friends Hospital we have treated patients from all of these ethnic groups since we opened the program almost 15 years ago.
As with whites, the majority of individuals are female. In the past, African Americans and Latinos, in particular, were partially protected from the culture of thinness that otherwise permeated American society. The standards of attractiveness for African American and Latino women used to allow for fuller figures.
As our society has integrated, rather than the Anglo cultures becoming more accepting of a range of sizes, the minority cultures seem to have adopted the thing standard of the majority. We have seen an increase in the number of our minority patients possibly related to this change.
BtM:
Are there any stereotypes about people with eating disorders that you wish people understood weren’t true?
MJP:
The most common stereotype of individuals with eating disorders is that they are all white and upper middle class.
We have treated individuals with eating disorders from Asian, African American and Latino communities; also from Indian and Near Eastern societies. We have treated individuals from a range of socioeconomic backgrounds, from well-to-do to welfare.
There is a perception that all eating disorder patients are in their teens or twenties. Our experience is that there is a tremendous range of ages. Unfortunately, the problem can begin in childhood, well before the teen years. It also can extend into middle age. Many of the older patients we treat at Friends Hospital had episodes of eating disorder symptoms in their younger years, which either went undetected or resolved with treatment. That experience created a vulnerability to future eating disorder problems and under stress the symptoms recur.
… in a few hours, we’ll unveil Part II of this informative interview ***…
Its great to hear some of these stereotypes being acknowledged. I’m especially interested in the age stereotype after reading Trisha Guru’s book Lying in Weight about older women with eating disorders. I hate to think that people with genuine eating disorders are overlooked by family and friends because they don’t fit the classic model…in situations like that, stereotypes are truly dangerous.