[et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”3.0.91″ custom_padding=”0px|0px|0px|0px” next_background_color=”#000000″][et_pb_row custom_padding=”2px|0px|8px|0px” _builder_version=”3.0.47″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_video _builder_version=”3.20.1″ src=”https:\/\/youtu.be\/yimGUEF_keI” \/][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”3.0.92″ custom_padding=”2px|0px|37.9062px|0px” prev_background_color=”#000000″][et_pb_row custom_padding=”0px|0px|18.9531px|0px” custom_margin=”10px|||” _builder_version=”3.0.92″][et_pb_column type=”2_3″][et_pb_text admin_label=”News Story” _builder_version=”3.20.1″ custom_margin=”0px||0px|”]<\/p>\n
When Ashley McMullen was in 9th grade she began to leave her lunch by the back door, fearing the chips and sandwich her mother made each morning would add too much weight to her small frame.<\/p>\n
“It started out as, ‘I\u2019m just going to lose a few pounds. I don\u2019t like the way I look,'” McMullen, now a Clemson University senior, said. “And it started off like that and then it escalated to me losing 20 to 25 pounds.”<\/span><\/p>\n “I didn\u2019t need to lose weight at all. And it kind of escalated to a full-blown eating disorder really quickly.”<\/span><\/p>\n McMullen is one of nearly 30 million Americans who will experience an eating disorder in their life, according to the National Eating Disorder Association. Eating disorders are considered a mental illness and are the second most fatal mental illness.\u00a0<\/strong>It’s often a hidden disease and 50% of people know or know of at least one person who has or has had an eating disorder.<\/p>\n McMullen said she cannot pinpoint when she began to restrict herself from eating. But her mom, Karen McMullen, caught on quickly.<\/p>\n Her mother would pack her daughter’s lunch every day for school – a sandwich, chips, water and some fruit.<\/p>\n According to Karen McMullen, Ashley started off by leaving her chips by the back door. Then, she added her sandwich to the pile. Soon, Ashley was only eating a single “cutie,” a small mandarin orange and a bottle of water.<\/p>\n \u201cShe could have easily thrown those chips and sandwich out at school. And I wondered if it were a cry for help,” Karen McMullen said.<\/p>\n Ashley said her mom would ask her when she got home, “Ashley why aren’t you hungry at lunch?” Ashley said she would tell her that she didn’t want to eat and her stomach hurt.<\/p>\n Karen McMullen saw the warning signs and began to research eating disorders online. After contacting her daughter’s pediatrician, she brought Ashley in for testing.\u00a0<\/strong>Between December 2011 to February 2012, Ashley weighed 72 pounds.<\/p>\n Ashley was diagnosed with Anorexia Nervosa in 2012. The last week of February 2012 she was admitted to a local hospital. That’s when she and her family realized the seriousness of her eating disorder.\u00a0<\/p>\n The McMullens did not know the long road that was ahead of them.<\/p>\n At the time, South Carolina did not have a 24-hour facility dedicated to treating people with eating disorders. \u00a0(There is one now in Greenville, the Eating Recovery Center South Carolina) Ashley had to be admitted to a facility at the UNC Center of Excellence \u00a0for Eating Disorders in Chapel Hill , North Carolina.<\/p>\n “The day that I got hospitalized I was suppose to cheer at a basketball game,” Ashley said. “Instead of going to do that, at my after school appointment at 3 p.m., my doctor was like ‘You\u2019re being admitted now.”<\/span><\/p>\n “Your whole life kind of shifts. And it kind of makes you feel guilty because your parents are having to take off of work because of you. I have a little brother and his life altered completely.”<\/span><\/p>\n After a month of treatment, including therapy sessions with psychologists and meetings with nutritionists and dietitians to plan meals, Ashley was released from the facility and was able to return home.\u00a0<\/p>\n “So I can definitely say it’s a long process and it definitely looks different for everyone. Maybe some people fully recover in a full year. That just wasn\u2019t my situation,” Ashley said.<\/span><\/p>\n Ashley now believes she began to restrict her eating to have more control\u00a0over her life. She says it’s a twisted mindset and it’s hard to let go even though she knew it wasn’t healthy.<\/p>\n “One of the hardest things to do is to admit that you are struggling with that,” Ashley said. “You\u2019ll think that you’re doing great and that you beat it and then those thoughts come back. But there is a light at the end of the tunnel and you can make it.”<\/span><\/p>\n Ashley, who will graduate in May with a degree in Psychology and attend graduate school in the fall at Florida State University, listens to her body more now and doesn’t stress as much as she did before. She says she goes with the flow more. \u00a0<\/p>\n Since being diagnosed seven years ago, Ashley shares her story to educate others and to break the stigma surrounding eating disorders. She was nervous to speak up at first but decided to not let fear and what people thought stop her.<\/p>\n “I realized that it is so prevalent. So I realized I needed to be talking about it. And that it wasn\u2019t going to define me that it was just apart of my story. \u00a0And that it can be used to help other people,” Ashley said.<\/span><\/p>\n Ashley isn’t the only one who wants to continue the conversation about eating disorders. Margaret Yeakel, the former coordinator of the South Carolina Eating Disorder Association, wants to also continue the conversation and push for more awareness in South Carolina.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span>“We are simply raising awareness in the community that we serve but it’s important for those in the legislature to know as well,” \u00a0Yeakel said. “And just talking about it raises awareness as that network grows.”<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n A resolution has been declared to make February 25 to March 3, Eating Disorders Awareness Week and March 6 Eating Disorder Awareness Day in South Carolina.<\/p>\n If the resolution passes, these days serve the purpose to “encourage citizens and policymakers to learn more about eating disorders and the obstacles to treatment, promote education and prevention efforts and to help people overcome and prevent these life-threatening diseases,” according to the resolution.\u00a0<\/p>\n If you or someone you know is struggling with an eating disorder, more information can be found at South Carolina Eating Disorder Association and\u00a0<\/a>National Eating Disorder Association\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_3″][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" For one Clemson University student, the struggle with an eating disorder took some time to overcome. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":154,"featured_media":19609,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":" Nearly 30 million Americans will<\/strong> experience an eating disorder in their life according to the National Eating Disorder Association.\u00a0 Eating disorders are considered a mental illness and are the second most fatal mental illnesses. illness<\/strong><\/p> It's often a hidden disease and 50% of people know or know of at least one person who has or has had an eating disorder.<\/strong><\/p> Clemson University student Ashley McMullen is one the 30 million diagnosed when in her\u00a0freshman year of high school.<\/p> \"It started out as I\u2019m just going to lose a few pounds. I don\u2019t like the way I look. \u00a0And it started off like that and then it escalated to me losing 20 to 25 pounds,\" Ashley said. \"I didn\u2019t need to lose weight at all. \u00a0And it kind of escalated to a full blown eating disorder really quickly.\"<\/span><\/p> Ashley says she cannot pinpoint when she began to restrict herself from eating but her mom, Karen McMullen, caught on quickly.<\/p> Karen would pack her daughters lunch every day for school.\u00a0 A sandwich, chips, water and some fruit is what she sent Ashley off to school with--but those foods never arrived.<\/strong><\/p> According to Karen, Ashley started off by leaving her chips by the back door before she she left.\u00a0 Then, her sandwich added to the pile.\u00a0 Soon, Ashley was only eating a single cutie, otherwise known as a small orange and a bottle of water.<\/p> \u201cShe could have easily thrown those chips and sandwich out at school.\u00a0 And I wondered if it were a cry for help,\" Karen said.<\/p> Ashley says her mom would ask her when she got home, \"Ashley why aren't you hungry at lunch?\"\u00a0<\/strong> Ashley said she would tell her that she didn't want to eat and her stomach hurt.<\/p> Karen saw the warning signs and began her research.\u00a0 After contacting her daughter's pediatrician, she brought Ashley in for testing.<\/p> After being diagnosed, Ashley began seeing her doctor and social worker more often but she kept dropping weight.\u00a0 A month later she was admitted to a local hospital.\u00a0 That's when her and her family realized just how serious her eating disorder was.<\/p> The McMullens did not know the long road that was ahead of them.<\/p> At the time, South Carolina did not have a 24-hour facility dedicated to treating people with eating disorders.\u00a0 Ashley would have to go to a facility at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill\u00a0 five hours away in North Carolina.<\/p> \"It was definitely tough especially being so young. \u00a0It definitely makes you grow up in a sense. My parents always say not that I grew up missing out but I didn\u2019t get to experience the things that other freshman in my class were experiencing. \u00a0The day that I got hospitalized I was suppose to cheer at a basketball game. Instead of going to do that at my after school appointment at 3 p.m. my doctor was like you\u2019re being admitted now,\" Ashley said.\u00a0 \u00a0\"Your whole life kind of shifts. And it kind of makes you feel guilty because your parents are having to take off of work because of you. I have a little brother and his life altered completely [as well].\"<\/span><\/p> A month later, Ashley was released from the facility and was able to return home but the battle wasn't over yet.<\/p> \"So I can definitely say it's a long process and it definitely looks different for everyone. \u00a0Maybe some people fully recover in a full year. That just wasn\u2019t my situation,\" Ashley said.<\/span><\/p> Ashley describes her eating disorder as not having control over certain things in life but at least she can control her eating<\/strong>. She says it's a twisted mindset and it's hard to let go even though she knew it wasn't healthy.<\/p> \"One of the hardest things to do is to admit that you are struggling with that. But once you take that leap of faith, it's only an uphill road from there. There will be bumps in the road and sometimes things don't go as planned. You\u2019ll think that you're doing great and that you beat it and then those thoughts come back. \u00a0But there is a light at the end of the tunnel and you can make it,\" Ashley said.<\/span><\/p> Ashley listens to her body more now and doesn't stress as much as she did before.\u00a0 She says she goes with the flow more.\u00a0 She describes the feeling as being very freeing. is this a quote?<\/strong><\/p> Despite her need to plan ahead, Ashley says she has been living life day to day<\/strong> and not worrying about what the future holds. Just living in the moment.<\/strong><\/p> Since being diagnosed almost eight years ago, Ashley shares her story to educate others and to break the stigma surrounding eating disorders.\u00a0 She was nervous to speak up at first but decided to not let fear and what people thought stop her.<\/p> \"I realized that it is so prevalent. \u00a0So I realized I needed to be talking about it. \u00a0And that it wasn\u2019t going to define me that it was just apart of my story. \u00a0And that it can be used to help other people,\" Ashley said.<\/span><\/p> Ashley isn't the only one who wants to continue the conversation about eating disorders.\u00a0 The former coordinator of the South Carolina Eating Disorder Association, Margaret Yeakel wants to also continue the conversation and push for more awareness in South Carolina.<\/p> \"We are simply raising awareness in the community that we serve but it's important for those in the legislature to know as well. \u00a0\u00a0So raising awareness with legislators so they understand what impact this illness has on our state,\" Yeakel said. \"And hopefully address whatever resources we may need. \u00a0And just talking about it raises awareness as that network grows.\"<\/span><\/p> Yeakel, along with others, hope to make March, 6 Eating Disorder Day in South Carolina to help show legislators how important it is to have more resources, more education and the ability to help more people.<\/p> \u00a0<\/p>","_et_gb_content_width":""},"categories":[67,71],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19058"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/154"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19058"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19058\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21672,"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19058\/revisions\/21672"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19609"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19058"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19058"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19058"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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