One Survivor Shows Why Funding Treatment for Eating Disorders is Worth the Investment

Marissa Navares said while she was struggling, all she wanted someone to do was acknowledge her eating disorder. She wanted someone to pay attention and care that she was losing so much weight.

However, many times people do not say anything to someone they suspect has an eating disorder. Most worry they will offend the person if they are wrong.

"There's no easy way to bring it to someone's attention, especially because you don't know how they’re going to react," Navares said.

Kate Berton, a licensed marriage and family therapist with a specialization in eating disorders in adolescents and adults, suggests asking questions when approaching someone you think has an eating disorder. She also said it is best to come off as curious and do everything you can to let the person know you're on their side and that you care about them.

Navares' friend and roommate, Ashley Rollans, was the one to approach her and help her realize she needed serious treatment. "She gave to me what I probably needed: for someone to be real with me and for someone to put it in perspective and not be nice about it either," Navares said.

She said Rollans seemed surprised with how receptive Navares was to the conversation of treatment.

Dr. Monica Sifuentes, an attending physician at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center and Professor of Pediatrics at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, said calm, comfortable, supportive conversations aren't always possible. "If they think it will be too confrontational or emotional, they should bring it up to their primary care physician," said Sifuentes. Then the next time the person goes to the doctor, the physician can approach the individual from a professional perspective.

Sifuentes and Berton said one of the most important parts of approaching someone who may have an eating disorder is to be non-confrontational. "You can't force someone into recovery. Someone has to be willing."

"They can take it or they can run away from it, you don't know if they're going to get upset for you even mentioning it," Navares said. "So it's a gamble, but it's just so worth taking that risk."