Facing eating disorders at Vassar

Larissa Pahomov and Amy Rubin Contributing Editors

According to the National Institute of Mental Health, 10 percent of all college-age women have some form of a clinical or near-clinical eating disorder.

Vassar College is certainly no stranger to these issues. In fact, the campus atmosphere may even magnify problems.

There are “certain things about Vassar…it’s extremely small residential life where students see each other more often and it is harder to blend in,” said Director of Health Services Sylvia Balderrama. Thus the place “has a tendency to cause some students to feel like they’re on display and being scrutinized.”

Moreover, problems with eating are not relegated to official diseases like Anorexia Nervosa or Bulimia. Eating habits are like a spectrum, Balderrama explains, in which “you have people with no concerns about eating healthily or body image at one end and people with a full-blown eating disorder at the other end. In between you have the worried well and then people with bad habits, such as more compulsive eaters and those who are constantly on a diet.”

Vassar’s Health Services is aware of how much the various forms of disordered eating relies on self-image and self-acceptance, and offers numerous counseling opportunities for those students suffering from disordered eating, a more extreme form of an eating disorder, or even more general issues of self that could lead to disordered eating.

Students do seem aware of the standard counseling services offerld at Metcalf. According to Health Services, in the last year alone 20 percent of enrolled students took advantage of one or more of these counseling services. Five percent of those visits were for “food issues."

In addition to the free and confidential counseling sessions, students are also encouraged to attend group workshops and discussions, such as the “Sense of Self” group that meets at various times throughout the year. Private consultations with an on-staff nutritionist are also available for those students who are not necessarily in need of clinical help, but rather need professional advice in creating a healthier lifestyle.

In addition to these services, Health Services, along with Baldwin, has policies in place to aid those students in need of more clinical assistance. If a student is evaluated as potentially “at risk” by a counselor, they are referred to Baldwin where a medical examination and lab test are conducted in order to clarify the severity of the students illness. If Baldwin classifies the student as “at risk” the student must make a decision of where to seek treatment.

While this decision ultimately falls under the jurisdiction of the Dean of Students, Balderrama explains that “depending on the type of treatment the student requires and the available facilities, students have choices about where they wish to seek treatment.”

Due to a lack of suitable clinical services for treating severe forms of eating disorders from within the College, however, most clinically “at risk” students seek medical treatment off-campus. This scenario in which the Dean of Students dictates that a student must take a leave of absence to undergo clinical counseling is the most extreme case. Balderrama asserts that “usually students that come in for counseling are simply concerned about balancing nutrition, exercise and body image, and we only have a handful—maybe 2 to 5 students each year—who require off-campus, more intensive medical attention.”

Although this low number is reassuring, it does not meant that any fewer students are at risk of potentially developing an eating disorder. Although there are wide range of services available, the ultimate burden of taking the first step falls on the student.