​Lexi Black - Essay

​Lexi Black - Pennsylvania
Nomination by Amy Hedges Photography
Photo taken by my mom (Karen Black)
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Hi, my name is Lexi Black and I am a part of inspiring Teens Magazine issue 66. Mental health is a topic that is very dear to my heart. Now I have had a long journey with mental health, but | would like to focus on eating disorders. There are many types of eating disorders that can affect many different types of people. About 30 million Americans have been diagnosed with a type of ED. At the age of I1 | became one of them. I fully convinced myself that I did not need food to survive and I was fine. Like many mental disorders, it is more of a mental battle rather than physical. Now, yes, it does effect one physically, but it is the mind that tells us things that form our actions. The brain is a very complex thing to understand. So the constant battle of giving in and listening to the bad thoughts or listening to your physical body can be exhausting. Many people avoid getting help for a couple reasons. Maybe they were raised in a culture were mental health is fake, maybe they simply do not want help because they do not believe that they have a problem. Whatever the reason may be, it is important for everyone to be educated about eating disorders. There are many reasons why one may develop an eating disorder. It may be because of some type of abuse, having a need for some type of control, or maybe developed one through genetics. The important part is to get help and work with the people who just want to see everyone happy and healthy. If one does not at least try to get help they are increasing their chances of death. Eating disorders are one of the deadliest mental illnesses. They are second in line right behind opioid overdoses coming in at first. With so many people struggling with their relationship with food, it is important to help these people before the fate of death catches them. Thankfully I was given help early so that I did not have as many side effects as I could have. Through the years, I have gone through eating disorders, such as anorexia and BED (binge eating disorder). By putting my body through to complete opposite disorders through the years, I fear about how badly I have damaged my body. With anorexia, I shrunk my stomach rapidly and deprived my body of nutrients that it needed, especially that a preteen needs for upcoming growth. And then very quickly with my binge eating disorder, I stretched out my stomach. From the rapid shrinkage and stretching of my body, it was put through a lot in such a short period of time. I say this not to sound harsh, but because many people struggle with similar situation, and are not fully comprehending what our bodies go through during this disorder. There is no shame when struggling with an eating disorder, and there never should be. These are simply just some overall facts about an eating disorder, but please keep in mind they affect everyone differently. Anorexia is having the loss or inability to eat. Therefore, weight loss is a very prominent symptom. with your body being deprived of necessary, nutrients other symptoms caused by anorexia include loss of muscle mass, fatigue, low blood pressure, dizziness, low body, temperature, hair loss, loss of menstruation, abnormal, heart, rhythms, and in severe cases infertility and death. Not everyone may experience these exact symptoms, but it is important to know about them in order to understand why your body may feel off. Again, my name is Lexi Black and I hope this helps to raise awareness to mental health and help be a voice for those who may be struggling.