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DISPELLING EATING DISORDER MYTHS

Herald News (Passaic County, NJ) - 6/13/2016

HILLSDALE -- Education and awareness have been two of the biggest motivators for Valery Berenshtein, 17, since she returned to Pascack Valley High School two years ago after a stint in a local hospital to treat her eating disorders.

On Sunday, both of those goals were in full force as Berenshtein -- and a team of classmates -- hosted a walk at the high school to raise money and spread awareness about the severity of eating disorders and the misconceptions that tend to surround them.

"This is a very personal issue for me," Berenshtein, a junior from River Vale, said earlier this week. "I was at risk for organ failure and cardiac arrest. So when I came back to school I knew I wanted to educate people about it. Eating disorders affect people of various age groups and various genders -- they don't discriminate."

Berenshtein was hospitalized for anorexia and bulimia for two months in her sophomore year of high school, she said. During her treatment, Berenshtein said, she learned more about the severity -- and prevalence -- of eating disorders and felt compelled to spread awareness to those within her community.

Most of all, Berenshtein said, she wants to dispel the myth that eating disorders are a choice; they are, rather, a mental illness that people are continuously recovering from.

"A lot of people don't understand that eating disorders are a mental illness and in my mind that is the biggest misconception," she said. "Someone doesn't wake up and say, 'Oh, I want to have anorexia so I'm going to do this and that.' That is incorrect and false. They might start off as a habitual habit or action, maybe, but they do grow into a mental illness where the individual has no say over how they feel or act."

Sunday's walk was just the latest educational event Berenshtein has hosted since returning to Pascack Valley High School in February of her sophomore year.

She has hosted lectures, spoken with friends and classmates, had a community awareness night and even taught her own class as part of the district's "Pascack Period" -- where students can take weekly non-traditional classes -- all to help those around her understand the struggles of people with eating disorders.

"We do a lot of events in school," Berenshtein said of the class. "We made posters with positive affirmations and hung them around the school and we do a lot of those kinds of events and activities. The more people that realize eating disorders are in fact a mental illness, the better understanding they would have over these illnesses."

On Sunday, dozens of students and residents from across the Pascack Valley came to Berenshtein's walk. The walk was 3km. Participants walked around the track at Pascack Valley High School six times. Berenshtein and her classmates set up a booth where those who came could buy bracelets and raffle tickets to help support the National Eating Disorder Association, a non-profit that aims to prevent, provide treatment referrals and increase education about eating disorders.

Some came to support the cause specifically, others walked because they are always looking for causes to support and others said they walked to support friends or family members they knew with eating disorders.

"I think it's good to come out and support this and spread awareness," said Kelly Fuchs of Washington Township. "Eating disorders are not widely publicized, you hear about a lot of other illnesses, but not this."

Erica Cowper, Collen Joyce, Jannal Vasoll and Chrissy Southard, all students from Park Ridge, said they were walking in support of a friend who has an eating disorder.

"It's important to educate people and make them aware that there are so many people in this world who suffer from eating disorders," Joyce said, as she walked along the track.

Such responses made all of the hard work worth it, Berenshtein said.

"I think that the more younger generations stand up and voice themselves and share their stories, more people will understand this is not some secret illness that doesn't happen," Berenshtein said. "Eating disorders are very prevalent and need to be stopped. Something needs to be done."

Email: wyrich@northjersey.com