Responce Naomi Crowson

Naomi Crowson is a Trainee Health Psychologist for First Steps ED. This is an organization that focuses on helping people with all kinds of eating struggles of many different ages, with different team members including psychologists as well as psychiatrists. This organization started in 2004 and has helped many people through their process over the years. I was able to contact her because I was looking at all of the work from the years they had been doing it, this is an organization which is in England and with contacting the organization directly I got put into contact with Naomi however she was not able to have a conversation through a meeting but told me that I emailed her a couple of questions she would be happy to respond. I really appreciated this because she took the time to respond, which a lot of people have not. These were the questions that I sent over:

1. What do you see or think are the most common misconceptions people have around eating disorders? How do you think this affects the type of treatment they have access to?
2. What is the difference for you between a person who is battling an Eating Disorder and a person who is suffering severely with their body image, or do you consider them equal? 
3. How much of the issues surrounding this subject matter come from social media and the outside culture, and how much do you think comes from your family’s beliefs and the place where you have lived?

These were her answers:

1. “There are still misconceptions in terms of who can have an eating disorder. This stereotypical view is that eating disorders only affect white women and girls, but we know that eating disorders affect anyone of any age, gender or background. Boys and men and those from ethnic minority backgrounds may be less likely to come forward for treatment. Misconceptions around ARFID in particular are what we see a lot at the moment. People consider ARFID as ‘picky eating’ when it is much more than that. Again, if people downplay ARFID, then there might be a reluctance to come forward for treatment and support.”
2. “I’m unsure what you exactly mean by this question, but anyone who is struggling with an eating disorder, disordered eating or body image difficulties is worthy of support.”
3. “Within the research, it states that eating disorders are not the result of one causal factor. Instead, they are believed to be a result of interconnecting biopsychosocial factors. It is hard to answer this question in terms of how much each factor contributes because it could be a combination of these things. Social factors like social media and family/home life can have a big influence. “

By looking at her answers, I can look at a lot of different perspectives; for example, her wander to the first question about how there is this thought that eating disorders only affect a certain group. I think this is something that directly connects to some of the research that I have done for fearing the black body and the way that there is this constant discrimination in the body when it comes to people of color; there is also this subject of maybe talking about how things are different, and experiences are different. It is important to seek to understand those around us and not look at it through a lens of judgment. Another thing I found interesting was her talk about ARFID (Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder), and I question where the line is between being picky and having a problem. Someone actually has a problem with disordered eating because something I have been thinking about lately is the fact that all eating disorders are very strange disorders. After all, some of them can be hidden. People will never know because with eating disorders there is a lot of judgment when it comes to the body, and people are saying, ” Oh, she is too thin; she must be sick. Still, the reality is that we do not know because some bodies are slimmer than others naturally, so this cannot be a direct judgment; however, when it comes to people who are struggling with disorders such as Binge eating, the same thing comes into play: how do you judge that or discover that? A really big issue is that I believe people are too comfortable throwing around a diagnosis they think someone has because they are getting slimmer or thicker. The reality is that it is a very hard diagnosis for even doctors to make, so why are we letting random people off the street come in and talk about this? I think there needs to be clearer boundaries about what opinions people give and the way they talk specifically about other people’s bodies and their own as well. 

When it comes to the second question, I completely agree with the fact that anyone who is struggling needs help; however, I believe there is a difference between someone who, at times, is not completely comfortable with their body and someone who is going through a mental illness. Still, I completely agree that both need to be looked at at the root cause. 

In the third question, she is completely correct that it is a hard question to answer because everyone’s journey is different, and people have very different stories. It is important to look at all of them and better understand each person in their own journey, because they should not all be put in a specific box or denied the chance to tell their own story just because one is already being told for them.