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Summer is the longshoremen, swimsuits and shorts. For a teenager Kelsea McCready, it was not easy.
"I wanted to look good in my shirt and my clothes. When I looked in the mirror, I never thought that I was really good enough, "said the 21 – year – old university student.
"The summer garment really intensifies, because of course, when it's autumn and winter, it's more covered. But when it was summer, I could actually see myself more often. It was also at that time that I was able to find more problems on which to focus my attention and justify my behaviors. "
Because of these behaviors, she was hospitalized at age 15 with a diagnosis of anorexia nervosa.
"Anorexia was hurting me physically," she said. "Everyone does not get to this point. But I was very lean and very dehydrated, so it affected my kidney function and my kidneys risked failure.
Eating disorders are a group of mental illnesses that affect an estimated one million Canadians, according to the National Initiative for Eating Disorders.
They are a problem all year, say the experts.
But the conversations of dietitian Courtenay Vickers with her clients change in the summer. "It's definitely an emerging theme in the summer and how it creates a new set of anxiety or the voice of an eating disorder starts to get agitated," she said.
Vickers, who works with Body Brave, a support organization for people with eating disorders and a picture of their body in Hamilton, Ontario, said that suddenly more skin splashes can be stressful for someone with body image problems.
Taking out their summer clothes can be difficult for some people too, she said. "Maybe their size has changed in the last year. So when they take off their summer clothes and they do not go the same way, they have to go to the store now to buy new clothes for the summer, it can be very stressful. "
In winter, people do not talk about a "swimsuit body," said Ary Maharaj, coordinator of outreach and education at the National Eating Disorders Information Center (NEDIC). But in the summer, many women feel compelled to look leaner or lose weight, and men feel pressured to have "abdominals and muscles really torn apart," he said.
"Eating disorders can affect anyone," he said, including men, women, members of the LGBTQ2 community, and people of all ethnic backgrounds.
According to Maharaj, the warning signs of a eating disorder at home or any of your loved ones may be followed by one diet after another, concerned about your weight or your shape, or excessive physical activity.
"It's not a question of making joy or making your body strong, but of thinking that you are practicing to shape it in a certain way."
Having one of these signs is pretty normal, he said, but "the more you see, the more likely they are to become more and more at risk of suffering from a disorder." feeding or having disordered eating behaviors ".
In this case, you should seek help, he said, perhaps by visiting a health professional or calling NEDIC's help line to find local resources.
McCready, who is now speaking publicly about his experience of anorexia and working with Body Brave, said that people should not feel embarrbaded about needing help. "You are not weak to fight, and any kind of change can be very difficult," she said.
"You really should not feel ridiculous, like," Oh, I overreact to a change of season, I should not do it. "
"If you feel something, it's good, and it's worth talking to anyone you trust, whether it's a close friend, a family member, or of a therapist, just to tell it and really treat what you feel. Because it's better than keeping it for yourself and fighting silently. "
The National Eating Disorders Information Center provides resources on eating disorders and weight concerns, including information on programs across Canada. They operate a toll-free line at 1-866-633-4220 and have information on their website.
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