We are a society obsessed with image. This certainly is not new information, nor is the impact this obsession has over so many people. Andrea Smeltzer is just one of the many people who faced a battle with her body - one that she lost at the age of 19 when she died during her sleep due to an electrolyte imbalance that caused her heart to stop beating. Today, Smeltzer's parents, Doris sand Tom Smeltzer, travel the nation to help give a basic understanding of eating disorders. Through their daughter's journal entries and poetry, they have been able to gain a better understanding of an incomprehensible illness, and thus have allowed Smeltzer's voice that was once silenced by bulimia to finally come through.
Smeltzer was a bright, talented young woman. She sang opera, wrote poetry, studied abroad in Spain and was actively involved in human rights. To many, she seemed like the definition of perfection, and yet on the inside she faced many demons. A battle which her mother Doris says began with a desire to be wanted, which developed into an obsession with dieting.
"Andrea took out her unhappiness on one variable, her weight. That was something she could control, something she could change," said Doris.
Eventually, dieting wasn't enough to fulfill Smeltzer's lack of self-love, and thus she turned to purging. Although Smeltzer recognized her disorder, she, like many who have been diagnosed with an eating disorder, felt that she could control the disease. According to Doris, Smeltzer was completely aware of the statistics, she knew all the facts, but failed to realize that they applied to her. In fact, when Smeltzer discovered that one of her good friends was anorexic, she wrote a letter to her telling her to stop, that she was already thin and didn't need to lose any weight. And yet, one month later Smeltzer threw up on purpose for the first time.
"Andrea didn't believe that the same applied to her because she didn't consider herself to be 'too thin' as she did her friends. And so she allowed herself to believe that this behavior was okay," said Doris.
Another point made by Doris and Tom, is that often food has very little to do with an eating disorder. Often there are psychological factors such as low self-esteem or depression which cause people to use food as a way to gain some kind of control in their lives. Sometimes a traumatic experience can cause a person to fall into an eating disorder. Biology may be another factor because some people are more susceptible to eating disorders than others. As well, there are social factors that contribute to people's obsessions with their bodies as a result of the pressure from the media to fit a certain image.
"Dieting involves deprivation, sacrifice and guilt-all things that are not good for ourselves," said Doris.
Dieting is estimated to be a $50 million industry, indicates just how big of an obsession it has become in our society. Andrea reached a point where she was eating so little and exercising so much that her metabolism decreased and her body reacted in such a way that it felt it was experiencing a famine.
"When you eat so little, your body is being starved and so it saves the fat and deteriorates your muscle," Tom said.
Ultimately, the body can only handle so much, Doris said. "When we war with our bodies our biology will always win."
Eating disorders are not something to be taken lightly, and they are not something easily overcome. For many the symptoms of eating disorders are visable years before the actual disorder occurs, and to remove those behaviors from a person takes a lot of work.
Kathy Hampton, an eating disorder counselor at UConn commented, "Treatment for an eating disorder must deal with the underlying causes. People who suffer from eating disorders usually use food as a way to cope with feelings, and so other than simply stopping the disorder, the person has to find a way to identify with what they're feeling rather than search for a way to numb it."
Smeltzer's story is certainly not a happy one. And sadly, there are thousands more just like it. The idea of using the body as a way to perfect one's life is something that has become a common practice in today's society. Doris spoke about a magazine editor who said that when a story is going to run, the editors ask whether or not it will make women feel bad about their bodies. If the answer is yes, the story is a go.
Contact Joanna Arpie at Joanna.Arpie@UConn.edu
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