Group hopes to change perception of eating disorders

WIRED is a nonprofit organization dedicated to educating the community about the seriousness of eating disorders and offering support to women who suffer from them.

‘‘It keeps me focused and on track in my own recovery when I can talk to people about it,” Charnock said last month.

Eating disorders are defined as anorexia nervosa (characterized by self-starvation and excessive weight loss), binge eating disorder and bulimia nervosa (a cycle of binge eating and self-induced vomiting). Anorexia nervosa has the highest premature fatality rate of any mental illness.

According to the National Eating Disorders Association, nearly 10 million women and 1 million men in the United States suffer from an eating disorder.

WIRED is still in a fundraising phase, but Charnock said she eventually wants the organization to form a support group, develop school programs and host educational programs for the community.

Charnock noted that one of the purposes of WIRED is to change at the grass-roots level the stigma and the sense of shame surrounding eating disorders. She said many people don’t want to talk about the problem publicly or think that eating disorders are simply about food and don’t understand how deadly and pervasive they are.

There are no support groups in Frederick County for women or men suffering from eating disorders, according to Cindy Burdette, marketing director for the Mental Health Association of Frederick County.

The Mental Health Association provides information, referral services, education and counseling for the community and operates a free, 24-hour hotline (800-422-0009).

For more information go online to www.wiredfoundation. org or www.fcmha.org.