The queer community has proven its resilience repeatedly in the last several decades. But experts warn that continual exposure to trauma has made the community especially vulnerable to eating disorders and disordered eating.Research has consistently found that LGBTQ+ adults and adolescents experience eating disorders and disordered eating behaviors more frequently than their heterosexual and cisgender counterparts.The causes can include bullying, poverty, abuse, body-image ideals (as perpetrated through the media) and the political climate, among other issues.(Note: According toEating Recovery Center, while it is possible that disordered eating behaviors can develop into an eating disorder, that is not always the case. Both disordered eating and eating disorders can share similar signs and symptoms. In this article, the professionals consulted each use a different term.)Looking at different typesThere are several categories of eating disorders, according to Chicago nutritionist Theresa LaMont, RDN, LDN (they/them/theirs).Anorexia and bulimia are the disorders most people are familiar with, LaMont said. However, theres one called OSFED, which stands for other specified feeding or eating disorder, and Id say thats the biggest catch-all bucket. Then there is binge-eating disorder, which is considered to be separate from anorexia and bulimia; its different because it doesnt have a restrictive component.Nutritionist Theresa LaMont (they/them). Photo: Courtesy of LaMontAvoidant/restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID) is another illness, LaMont said. This is one that has nothing to do with concerns about weight or shame. Its kind of an extreme set of sensitivities to food. A person with ARFID wont just eat chicken nuggets, they added. They will eat Tyson Chicken Nuggets in the red five-pound bag. It gets very, very specific and when those foods are not available, people will have extreme reactionseven physical, like gagging or vomiting.LaMont said that there are others that are rareusually niche [disorders]. Theres rumination disorder [when someone repeatedly regurgitates undigested or partially digested food from the stomach] or pica, which some people are familiar with. With pica, people eat food that isnt food [like chalk]. And then theres one thats a diagnosis although it shouldnt be one: atypical anorexia nervosa, in which you have all the symptoms of anorexia but youre just [not underweight]. Six percent of people with any eating disorder are considered to be medically underweight; 94% are not considered underweight.The role of traumaThe ostensible causes of eating disorders are myriad, but LaMont said trauma almost inevitably emerges as a common factor in the lives of the clients they see. With trauma, you could include bullying, sexual assault, homelessnessall of those things, LaMont said. I would say, from my personal experience, I can count on one hand the number of people who werent dealing with capital-T or lower-t trauma.Andersonville therapist Albe Gutierrez (she/her/ella) sees those various causes of disordered eating (a term she prefers in order to avoid pathologizing) can be relatedespecially for the trans communityto the body, as in restricting food intake as a way of shaping the body. For some, its about the ideal of having an attractive body.The current political climate, Gutierrez added, is impacting trans peoples ideas about their bodies, so I think issues like desire, [attractiveness] and passibility are heightened. To an extent, being attractive and passable are indicative of safety with gender identity. For some, its about camouflaging oneself.Therapist Albe Gutierrez. Photo: Courtesy of GutierreAnd how does one even become aware that he/she/they might have a disorder? Its remarkably complex, LaMont said. For example, if you think about adolescent-onset eating disorders, you can see family members saying, Somethings wrong. You used to eat all this food and now youre not, Youre eating in a very different way or Youre hiding food. Theres a lot of outside looking in.Gutierrez said, Working with disordered eating is a unique challenge in that food is always going to be around; it is literally necessary for life. I think the ubiquitousness of it could be a trigger and a barrier. Also, disordered eating could be connected to other mental-health needs that are not being addressed. People could be dealing with symptoms of depression or anxiety, and they turn to food for comfort, for example.With a lot of eating disorders, theway they function is by hiding themselves from the person suffering from them, LaMont stated. If someone knew they had an eating disorderin a black-and-white waythey wouldnt want to keep doing it. But if it starts as Well, its New Years so Ill cut out carbswell, everybody does that! Then you might start tracking calories, going lower and exercise more.An eating disorder shape-shifts so that the person with the condition, and the people around them, regard it as normal, LaMont noted.Quite frequently, eating disorders only become identifiable when theres someone close who sees the [sufferer] every day, or if there are medical consequences, they said. And, even then, with 94% of people with eating disorders having a normal or higher-weight body, the possibility of a doctor screening the person for an eating disorder is very, very low. The doctor might say, Youve lost 30 pounds? Keep up the good work.And this lends itself to a lack of culturally competent care, according to LaMont: Doctors get a little bit of training, like what an eating disorder looks like in a 13-year-old white girl whos underweightbut they dont know how to screen anybody else.Gutierrez suggested relying on family and friends, saying, If theres a pattern of comments that youre getting, solicited or not, that might be a sign.Weight-loss drugs present new complicationsLaMont called the proliferation of weight-loss drugs such as Mounjaro, Wegovy and Ozempic one of their hot buttons.GLP-1 drugs are a phenomenal medication for the treatment of diabetes, they explained. Theyre life-changing for people suffering from it. The medications themselves are not good or badtheyre just medications. However, the unfettered rise of GLP-1s on the landscape is an absolute harm, especially given that there are all of these online places where you can get medications without seeing a doctor or being monitored. Its something I discuss with my clients day in and day out. People want a magic solutionbut, like any medication, it has benefits and side effects; its not great for everybody. But by making this so easily accessible, people who are already suffering from eating disorders are going to suffer more.The justification I keep hearing is that its not like ephedrine or the diet pills of the past; its different. But there are decades of research [with weight-loss medications]for people with diabetes. We dont have decades of research for people who dont have diabetes.On the road to recoveryLaMont was skeptical that LGBTQ+ culture would retreat from the bodily standards perpetuating eating disorders anytime soon.Societally, the very short version is that were fucked, they said. I say that not just because our current political administration is divorced from meaningful science or healthcare. But back in 2020, when COVID was first on the scene, a lot of the fat liberationist scholars and content creators said, If we live through this, theres going to be a huge backlash against fat bodies. They broke down this historical relationship between global health events, like the Spanish flu pandemic in 1918, and how thinness became this body ideal after the eventsand this was connected with health and morality. So if you survive a pandemic, youre a good personand you shouldlooklike a good person, which is healthy and thin.So this intersection of post-COVID society and the rise of GLP-1 is wildly unsurprising to me. So, from a social standpoint, I dont see this getting better for a good five to 10 yearsbut I hope Im wrong.Regarding recovery for a queer individual, LaMont said, Lets pretend we live in a world where everyone has equitable access to healthcare. The first person you want to go to is a therapist; if theyre [properly] trained, theyll know what to look for. Emotionally, you have nothing to lose. But if you cant get a therapist, try a dieticianbut about 90% of them are cisgender white men. Plus, the academic qualifications have been raised, which means the field will look even more cisgender and white across the board. If you cant reach a therapist or nutritionist, try a primary-care doctor.Gutierrez concurred about the importance of therapists, saying, Understanding the factors influencing behavior is an important first step in changing any maladaptive behavior. [But] for the queer community, there can be a problem finding competent clinicians, especially for people who are minorities within minorities, like queer people of color. For those who may find such care geographically inaccessible, Gutierrez suggested turning to the internet or social media (such as YouTube), adding that people should practice due diligence.LaMont urged solidarity among members of the LGBTQ+ community as difficult times most certainly lie ahead.The thing that feels really important to megiven the social and political moment were inis that there is no LGB without the T, they said. Trans women of color are the reason that queer people have any of the rights that we have today, and they should be protected at all costs. The concept that trans people are under attack in this country significantly increases the likelihood of them suffering from eating disorders. People use the disorders as a coping skillas a tool to survive. Even before this administration, I worked with a lot of transgender siblings who were already trying to modify the appearance of their bodies to conform with their gender idealand I [fear] that its only going to get worse when trans people lose access to gender-affirming care.The post Trauma fuels vulnerability to disordered eating in the LGBTQ+ community appeared first on News Is Out.