Heading back to school, work could increase risk for epidemic of eating disorders to spike, doctors say
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- As people head back to school and work, doctors say there's an increased risk for the epidemic of eating disorders to get even worse. Now, there's a new focus on getting help for minorities who suffer from the disorder and often don't have equal access to treatment.
About 30 million Americans struggle with eating disorders and for minorities, finding mental health services has been difficult and often impossible.
Project Heal is aiming to change that.
"I was very conscious about my weight since I was a child," Tiffany Ramirez said.
Ramirez says she has been struggling with an eating disorder since she was 10.
"I kind of got the nickname skinny girl, but in Spanish it's Flocka and for me, that was kind of like my image and I wanted to keep that image," Ramirez said.
At 22, the Temple University student now knows she had a distorted view of herself.
"When I was really, really thin I would look in the mirror and say like I need to be thinner," Ramirez said.
The epidemic of eating disorders skyrocketed during the pandemic. Isolation and social media over-exposure are some of the big triggers.
Heading back to school and work is now an added stress.
"There's social pressure. There's academic pressure. There's appearance," Project Heal member Rebecca Eyre said.
Eyre is with Project Heal an organization focused on creating equitable access to eating disorder care.
"Less than 20% of people with eating disorders ever access treatment due to exorbitant costs, prohibitive insurance barriers and systemic biases about who has eating disorders," Eyre said.
She says Ramirez's story is typical of what often happens to minorities with eating disorders they're under-diagnosed or ignored.
"I called every facility in Philadelphia that helped with eating disorders, and they all say they don't help people with government insurance," Ramirez said.
She says she finally found help with the free programs at Temple University.
"Eating disorders. They're a killer. And most people don't recognize how serious it is," Ramirez said.
She adds when she was growing up people thought she was just a picky eater. Now she knows it was much more serious.
Click here for more information on Project Heal.