Eating disorders are exploding, hurting adolescents who have trouble finding care
Dr. Harry Brandt provides insight into the increase in eating disorders as a result of the pandemic.
From the early days of the pandemic, researchers worried that the heightened stresses of lockdown and the limits on mental health care would intensify the risks of eating disorders for adolescents and young adults. As a medical student rotating in the psychiatric emergency room, I witnessed firsthand how those fears have been realized.
Eating disorders among young people have exploded across the nation. For many, the inability to get timely care is spiraling into increasing self-injurious behaviors by cutting or burning and worsening suicidal ideation.
