There continues to be a stigma and unclear understandings about eat disorders and mental illness. Fortunately, more people are coming forward to discuss why it's so important that we try to understand and help those who are struggling each day. 

One of these leaders is 18 year-old University of California, Santa Cruz student and Yoga Teacher, Maris Degener. Maris began her wellness journey as she was recovering from her eating disorder at a hospital. She was given the tools and assistance that she needed to help her body recover from her disorder, but she realized that the medical center didn't provide what she needed to help her mind heal. 

Even though she's now a freshman in college, get ready to hear a great deal of insight from Maris on how we can discover self purpose, uncover happiness, and help change the stigma surrounding eating disorders and mental illness.

 

"They might not be able to understand that what's going through a person's mind doesn't represent the person, but the mental illness." - Maris Degener on why it's important to separate the person from their disorder.

 

Ending Myths about Mental Illness

"Mental illness as a whole is so difficult to treat because it's so unique to the individual. We're still not 100% certain about how exactly mental illness manifests in people." -  Maris Degener

 

There are lot a of myths surrounding mental illness and we're still not quite sure what could be the cause of it. For some people it might be genetics or trauma or other life situations they experienced that create enough of an impact to affect their well-being. 

There's a false belief that eating disorders come from a place of vanity. However, the root cause is so much deeper than that. Eating disorders and mental illness can come from a person working through their personal life issues. It might be their way to cope with trauma, feeling lost, or as a means to stay grounded when they feel out of control.

 

Recognize the Signs of an Eating Disorder

Here are some different ways to recognize the signs of an eating disorder.

The person is _____:

• not finding joy in food.
• finding it stressful to eat or be around food.
• suddenly displaying stress during social situations where food is involved.
• weighing and measuring what they are eating.
• eating different foods that they didn't eat before.

 

Shred Other People's Expectations 

"Find whatever lights you up when other people are telling you that you should be doing something different with your life." - Maris Degener

Maris made a really great point about the predicted expectations that society has about life and happiness. We can go through these scenarios at different points throughout life, but the pressure can be at its strongest when we have all of this pressure to join extracurricular activities in order to get into college.

 

Leave The Predicted Life Path

When we face so many expectations that other people have ab