Stress and pressure can come in many different forms, and from many different sources and can have a significant impact on the body and self-image in general.
The Counseling and Health centers of Ball State kicked off the National Eating Disorder Awareness week of events with a Sunday walk that aimed to promote awareness and support for those dealing with eating disorders, which have the highest mortality rate of any mental illness, according to the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders.
Participants started off at the front table, which was lined with flyers and other resources about body image and eating disorders, filling out a name tag with the name of the person that they were walking for. At the end of the event, the name tags were added to a collage on a poster board to display.
The concourse of Worthen Arena served as the track. Conquering six laps equals a mile, which attendees did several times over the 5 to 7 p.m. time slot that the event took place in.
“It’s something to do that people can feel better about themselves afterwards,” said Khahn Nghiem, a doctoral intern and member of the Counseling Center’s eating disorder outreach team. She had the word “everyone” written on her name tag. “We wanted to do something interactive.”
One of the first students that registered said he was walking for his dad, who had been previously affected by an eating disorder. He was one of the first participants to start walking.
Haley Armstrong, a senior psychology major and fellow member of the eating disorder outreach team said the two services offered a similar week of events last year, but the walk was new this year.
Both Armstrong and Khahn spoke in two different classes last semester about how eating disorders can be caused by major crisis, significant change over a short period of time, or even excess stress, which can be a common occurrence among college students.
The event for today will consist of a panel discussion about body image and diversity and will feature speakers from the Counseling and Health centers as well as international students. It will start at 5 p.m. in the Park Hall multipurpose room and will go on for an hour.
Screenings for eating disorders are also being offered from 11 a.m to 2 p.m. in the L.A. Pittenger Student Center lobby and from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. in the Student Recreation and Wellness Center.
