Increasing Stress Could Lead to Eating Disorders in College Students According to Alsana

May is Mental Health Awareness Month: Eating Disorders are the Second Most Deadly Mental Health Issue

ST. LOUIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--A recent Gallup and Lumina poll found that 41% of college students have considered pausing their studies due to increased stress within the last six months. Experts from Alsana note that stress can contribute to the development of eating disorders, which occurs in 10-20% of college women and 4-10% of men.

It’s important that parents know how to identify an eating disorder in college students as May Mental Health Awareness Month approaches, along with high school graduates preparing to head off to colleges in the fall.

“The effects of isolation and the reemergence of in-person experiences continues to negatively impact mental health in our young adults, leading to an increased risk of eating disorders,” said Dr. Nicole Garber, chief medical officer with Alsana. “If your child develops a change in eating habits or they become more irritable or depressed, have them evaluated by a mental health professional – an early intervention is key to recovery.”

Other signs of an eating disorder include binge eating, compulsive exercising, feeling overweight despite weight loss, not wanting to eat around others, emotionally and physically pulling away from friends, anxiety and obsessive compulsive disorder.

Getting treatment for an eating disorder as early as possible is important for long lasting recovery. Virtual programs, such as Alsana Connect, allow students to remain in school during treatment.

About Alsana

Alsana is an eating recovery community and treatment provider with in-person Residential and PHP/IOP programs in Alabama (Birmingham and Huntsville), California (Monterey, Santa Barbara, Westlake Village, and Thousand Oaks), and Missouri (St. Louis), and Virtual PHP/IOP offerings across the United States. Their approach to eating disorder treatment is compassionate, evidence-based, and designed in alignment with the Adaptive Care Model®. This holistic method seeks to address healing in all areas of clients’ lives by integrating medical, nutritional, and therapeutic care with movement and relational therapies. Alsana serves adult clients of all genders and sexual identities struggling with a broad spectrum of eating, feeding, and co-occurring disorders. Alsana’s programs accommodate the unique needs of vegan clients and clients struggling with ED-DMT1, also known as “diabulimia.” For additional information, visit www.alsana.com.