Signs and Symptoms Coaches and Athletes should look for.

The warning signs and symptoms are very important to know when it comes to eating disorders. Both athletes and coaches should know about these because of how important they are. In my last post I talked about how eating disorders can affect an athlete’s body while training.

So, I explained what eating disorders can do and here are some of the signs that I found from the National Eating Disorders website. The website is below.

https://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/warning-signs-and-symptoms

One of the first things that it brings up is emotion and behavioral symptoms. I did talk in a blog post about how mental illnesses and eating disorders can be related a lot of the times. What I talked about was more about the illnesses but in this one they talk about how people view their body.

A lot of the time, people with eating disorders view their bodies as damaged or don’t see a clear image of their body and what it really looks like. In the website they say that people with eating disorders usually are obsessed with their weight and dieting. They also say that they are usually checking their flaws in appearance a lot of the time. This relates to what I said a little earlier about people viewing their bodies as damaged.

The emotional standpoint of an eating disorder really takes a toll on athletes. Athletes are supposed to be confident when they do things. I say this a lot but I’m an athlete and I personally feel as though my confidence sometimes hides the fact that I’m nervous. It acts as a disguise sometimes for athletes. It’s like the expression “fake it till you make it”. A lot of the times I fake it and then I start to believe it. If an athlete, however, cannot be confident in themselves starting with their bodies then they won’t be confident on a court, field, or floor in front of an audience of people. There was a video that’ll I’ll attach but the volleyball player from one of the first blogs talked about how she was afraid to be in front of a group of people in spandex.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qqdbzqpc3QM

The next is physical symptoms, these are a little easier to notice if you are looking for them. This is when an athlete’s weight fluctuates, they have sleep problems, they’re cold all the time, and even more. I think the easiest for coaches to notice with their athletes is the weight changes. You could see if a person is losing weight and whether it’s an excessive amount or just a little.

These are the only symptoms that I’ll go over, but a coach and athlete should go to the National Eating Disorder Website and figure out the signs of an eating disorder.