According to NPR, hotline calls to the National Eating Disorders Association are up by 70-percent to 80-percent.
For many people eating is a form of control and a coping mechanism tied to stress, experts said. Food scarcity and stockpiling behavior can trigger anxieties about eating or overeating. According to the CEO of the National Eating Disorders Association, eating disorders have a strong link to trauma.
A survey in the International Journal of Eating Disorders showed, 62-percent of people in the U.S. with anorexia said their symptoms have worsened since the pandemic started.
Some people’s symptoms worsened because they had a lack of structure, social support, and lived in a triggering environment, said Christine Peat, co-author of the study.
People with eating disorders also said working from home has also caused to binge eat food, since it’s more accessible to them during all times of the day.