It’s officially National Eating Disorder Awareness week, and Body Acceptance week here on campus. Finally, finally, we are talking about disorders that affect millions of Americans that unfortunately still have a stigma attached to them.

The National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders reports that up to 24 million Americans of all ages and genders suffer from an eating disorder, and somehow this is still something that the general public historically feels needs to not be mentioned. It’s about time we’re talking about this, and it’s about time we research options on how to best treat eating disorders.

In our acceptance driven society, we should be striving for everyone to genuinely and authentically love themselves and the body that they’ve been given. This mentality cannot be contained to one week — we as students should always be doing something to bring awareness and change to how we treat eating disorders and the people who are struggling with them.

The fact that many people feel extraordinarily uncomfortable talking about suffering from an eating disorder is something that we need to change. If you know someone (and statistically-speaking, you do) who is struggling with an eating disorder, do not ignore that part of their lives. Be active, be involved, be the change that we need to see.

The number to the CSU Health Network is (970) 491-7121 and the counseling center specifically can be reached at (970) 491-6053. Do not hesitate to call  if this is something that hits close to home for you, and know that we, as Rams, are here for you.