Eating Disorders Causes

Despite rising awareness among the general population and health care professionals alike, misconceptions about eating disorders, which have the highest mortality rate of any mental illness, remain pervasive.

It's not uncommon for individuals to consult their family trees to evaluate their predisposition to various illnesses. But a disease that tends to be absent from the checklist of dangerous and highly-inheritable illnesses to look for in family medical histories is eating disorders.

Conversations stressing the importance of weight loss -- with others or ourselves -- have been coined "fat talk" by professionals in the mental health field.

I want to underline the fact that I don't think families always cause eating disorders. When I say not "always," what I mean is that there indeed are families in which there is emotional turmoil or neglect.