Eating Disorder Advocates Rally at BC Legislature in Victoria

Don't be shy to acknowledge you know little about eating disorders. I am an advocate for people afflicted by dirty conditions, and yet even I know relatively little on the topic.

Two dozen advocates rallied at the call of Vancouver Island Voices for Eating Disorders to commemorate the countless victims of government inaction and incompetence at treating patients with the urgency and dignity they deserve. The protest took place ahead of Eating Disorder Awareness Week, ranging from February 27 to March 5.

Among notable personalities attending the event were Jonathan Morris, CEO of the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA), and Adam Olsen, MLA for Saanich North and the Islands and House Leader of the BC Green Party.

The event was organised by the Vancouver Island Voices for Eating Disorders.

Decent turnout for a Tuesday afternoon with ambivalent weather. The wind was particularly disruptive.

No less notable were the multiple brave patients who came forward to speak of their gruelling experiences. One in particular delivered an address with dozens of sentences starting with “I am tired of…”, and the list of prejudices against her condition went on ad nauseam. She was tired of being ignored, derided, lectured, patronised, of being made to wait indefinitely, or being coerced into unproven treatment, of being told to try self-help. In short, she, like most attendees, felt she was not being taken seriously, and that racism and sexism often made their predicament even more acute.

Some actually came forward to speak with the protesters. It’s better than being completely ignored, as is all too common with such protests.

Beyond the plight induced by their medical condition, the speakers described a diseased mental health system that ranked their conditions at rock bottom of its priorities, and lamented that the countless patients that died either waiting for care or because of it were preventable.

I have to admit they have a point. Even among mental health conditions, eating disorders are misunderstood and their patients stigmatised. I can hardly imagine even patients suffering from depression being treated so lightly, in part because the latter is at the forefront of mental health advocacy, with even celebrities coming forward with personal accounts, whereas the former is still considered a self-inflicted taboo, like drug use. Eating disorder patients need more celebrities volunteering their own stories and more widespread media exposure before politicians take the issue seriously. Or, as I presume the protesters would object, perhaps politicians should listen to them firsthand, which is why today they took the fight to the Legislature, chanting: “We will be heard!”