Get Adobe Flash player
Introduction THE NEED FOR EATING-DISORDER RELATED SERVICES ON COLLEGE CAMPUSES A ttending college for the first time is both an exciting and challenging time for many young adults as they learn to navigate the adult world and balance freedom with responsibility. They are offered more choices than ever before, but with this new found freedom and responsibility comes additional pres- sures and stresses. As demonstrated in the 2007 Anxiety Disorders Association of America report, An Audit of Mental Health Care at U.S. Colleges and Universi- ties, the increased pressure and stress may lead to mental health problems among college students and a greater need for campus mental health services. This is also a period of development in which disordered eating is likely to arise, resur- face or worsen for many young men and women. Full blown eating disorders typi- cally begin between 18 and 21 years of age. (Hudson, 2007) Out from under the watchful eye of parents and family, eating attitudes and behaviors can change and even become dangerous without anyone noticing. Social pressure to make friends, have romantic relationships and achieve academically can lead to maladaptive coping mechanisms in the form of disor- dered eating. Our current cultural climate idealizing thinness and placing emphasis on weight as a primary indicator of health only contributes to fears of gaining weight. Although some students will experiment with dieting and escape unscathed, 35% of “normal” dieters progress to pathological dieting. Of those, 20–25% progress to partial or full–syndrome eating disorders (Shisslak & Crago, 1995). Given that eating disorders are the mental illness with the highest mortality rate (Arcelus, 2011), early detection, intervention and treatment is 5