On All Things Eating Disorders: Interview with Jennifer Rollin
By Anne Gvozdjak
Jennifer Rollin is an eating disorder therapist and founder of The Eating Disorder Center. She has been interviewed speaking about eating disorders on ABC, NBC, and PBS. She has been named as one of the top eating disorder experts in the country.
Could you briefly explain the science or psychology behind eating disorders?
Eating disorders are mental illnesses that are biopsychosocial in nature. There is a common saying that ‘genetics loads the gun and the environment pulls the trigger.’ Essentially there is a genetic component to eating disorders - and there are also personality factors (i.e. being driven towards perfectionism, rigidity, sometimes obsessive-compulsive traits etc) that are seen often in individuals with eating disorders as well. Then, there are factors in the environment such as experiencing trauma, diet culture, racism, sexism, and ableism - which can trigger the development of an eating disorder in someone with the underlying genetic predisposition.
2. What motivated you to become an eating disorder therapist?
I wanted to become an eating disorder therapist following my own struggle and recovery from an eating disorder. I found myself becoming outspoken about diet culture and fat phobia and interested in pursuing advanced training - due to what I personally had experienced. I also realized that I gravitated towards the people with eating disorders during my clinical internships in graduate school. Now I work almost exclusively with individuals struggling with eating disorders, run The Eating Disorder Center, and am currently working on a book on eating disorder recovery with one of my closest friends, Dr. Colleen Reichmann. I couldn’t picture wanting to do anything else.
3. What are some things that most people don't know about eating disorders?
Most people do not know that if we picture an iceberg - the top layer (i.e. what pokes out from under the water) is typically food, weight, and exercise. However, the underneath layers can include things like coping with intense emotions, trauma, low self-worth, anxiety, depression, a mood disorder, not feeling ‘good enough,’ and things feeling ‘out of control,’ in a person’s life.
4. On the flip side, what are some of the most commonly-held misconceptions about eating disorders?
An eating disorder is NOT a choice. No one would choose to feel terrified of eating out or to be a slave to the gym. Or to miss out on events with friends due to fear around the food. No one would choose to binge and feel totally possessed, and/or to purge and feel shame + physical discomfort. To feel totally trapped. This is a mental illness NOT a lifestyle choice.
People with eating disorders are not simply shallow or vain - a focus on weight and appearance is one way that the illness often manifests. Again this is a symptom of a mental illness and of growing up in diet culture - not a character flaw.
Eating disorders are NOT determined by someone’s body size. You can have a severe life threatening eating disorder at ANY weight.
Eating disorders are highly treatable. Full recovery (i.e. freedom from any disordered mental noise + behaviors + falling in love with your life) is 100 percent possible. However, we also have to acknowledge that many marginalized individuals often do not have the same access, resources, and treatment, as more privileged individuals and this is completely not ok!
Eating disorders are NOT related to willpower. Feel out of control around food? That’s not because you’re ‘lacking willpower’ it’s because you have a mental illness (and often there’s some restriction going on).
You can’t just ‘snap out of’ an eating disorder. If this was the case there wouldn’t be therapists and treatment centers. You can recover but it’s important to be patient with yourself in that process and to try not to beat yourself up if you have setbacks along the way.
4. What are some things that the general public could do better right now to support people with chronic diseases in general, and/or eating disorders in particular?
A short list would include: being mindful of not referring to foods as good or bad, asking the person how you could best support them (and perhaps providing some options), examining and unpacking one’s own fat-phobia (as we all grew up in diet culture and there are also a ton of systemic changes that need to happen as well).
5. What are some of the greatest challenges you face as a part of your job?
At times having to collaborate with providers who are not health at every size informed is one challenge. I think getting lots of pushback sometimes on my social media posts can be another challenge (although I get far less than others due to thin privilege).
6. What are the best parts of your job?
Watching the light return to someone’s eyes, helping people to fully recover, seeing people take their life back from the eating disorder - these things are so incredibly rewarding! I love seeing both the large and small recovery wins along the way - and being able to support people when they are deeply struggling. I feel grateful to get to do this work.
7. Could you share some resources that you think may be valuable to those who may have an eating disorder?
The Food Psych Podcast is one great resource! There’s also tons of free content on Instagram from professionals that might be helpful. Also, my upcoming book on eating disorder recovery which is slated to come out in March of 2021.
8. If you could share just a single sentence or two as a message to those people who may be struggling with an eating disorder, what would they be?
Even if things feel hopeless right now - recovery is 100 percent possible and the freedom and peace with food and your body will be so worth it!
9. What would you like to see changed the most in how people view eating disorders or how they are treated in the future, and what are some things we can do to move in the direction of that change?
I would love to see people view eating disorders as the deadly and serious mental illness that they are with underlying roots - rather than as a ‘superficial illness’ someone who simply wants to ‘look a certain way,’ or for those who binge someone ‘lacking willpower.’ I also would love to see more eating disorder treatment that is health at every size informed and safe for clients in larger bodies.