We often hear about social media’s impact on body image, but what can we learn from someone who’s experienced it firsthand, developing a serious exercise and eating disorder?
And what can her journey to recovery teach us?
The latest episode of my Parenting in the Screen Age podcast features Isabelle, a teenager who shares her story.
It all started in 8th grade with the goal of losing a lot of weight. She also started exercising a lot. Her internal struggles were made worse by the constant stream of triggering content on platforms like TikTok. Isabelle opens up about how social media shaped her self-perception and how therapy, hospitalization, and strong family support helped her begin to heal.
Today I will share the start of my interview with Isabelle. It is a powerful piece that could serve as a good starting point for an important conversation with teens in your life.
Please also know the our conversation includes discussion of eating disorders, body image, and related experiences, so please read or listen with care. And if you or someone you love is affected by these issues you’ll find a list of support resources below.
What is wonderful is that we hear not only from Isabelle but also from her parents and how things changed for Isabelle, who was starting college when I interviewed her.
So here is part of our conversation, which starts with Isabelle talking about when the exercise and eating disorder, beginning when she was in 8th grade.
ISABELLE: I was doing softball and track, so that's when I got exposed to all the healthy eating trends. The whole reason I started getting into dieting was because one of my friends that was on my softball team lost like 40 pounds in such a short amount of time.
That's when I started experiencing body dysmorphia. I was in eighth grade when this happened.
DELANEY: And what do you remember your thinking starting to become?
ISABELLE: I just thought I wanted to become skinny. I never really thought about my weight before then.
DELANEY: And did you have a phone at the time or access to social media?
ISABELLE: Yes, I had an iPhone 11, and at that point, I had Instagram and Snapchat, and TikTok. That is the big one. TikTok is its own thing. I mean, you see all these fad diets, "what I eat in a day", and then eventually there's calorie tracking. Like I got introduced to MyFitnessPal through TikTok. That all started with body dysmorphia — with TikTok.
DELANEY: What were you doing for exercise?
ISABELLE: I would do high-intensity interval training, or as they call it, HIIT workouts. I was also in softball at this point, so I would go to softball practice. The coach would put on Insanity High-Intensity Interval Training. At night, when my parents were asleep I would work out more.
DELANEY: Had your parents known, or what were they thinking?
ISABELLE: No, my parents thought like, oh, it's just a phase.
DELANEY: You mentioned TikTok, Instagram. How was that impacting things, if at all?
ISABELLE: Everyone looked so happy. I started comparing my body to theirs. I mean, even people I knew, I was like, oh, they're so skinny, they're perfect. I have to be like that. So. It is like, almost like I hung a picture of them on my wall, and I was like, this is what I need to be
DELANEY: Was it comparing yourself more to your peers or to influencers or models?
ISABELLE: It was everyone. I kept on seeing TikToks, and eventually I got into “eating disordered TikTok”. It all says trigger warning and whatever, but everyone still watches, like everybody ignores the content warnings. You just click okay, because you're still curious.
That's when I would see people who would only drink like half a Red Bull, and that's it. They were just projecting everything onto social media for me to see...
That was just a glimpse of our conversation. Listen to the full episode to hear how intense it got for Isabelle and the powerful turning point towards her recovery that followed.
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National Alliance for Eating Disorders (“The Alliance”)
National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA)
Crisis Text Line
The Trevor Project (LGBTQ+ Youth)
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We often hear about social media’s impact on body image, but what can we learn from someone who’s experienced it firsthand, developing a serious exercise and eating disorder?
And what can her journey to recovery teach us?
The latest episode of my Parenting in the Screen Age podcast features Isabelle, a teenager who shares her story.
It all started in 8th grade with the goal of losing a lot of weight. She also started exercising a lot. Her internal struggles were made worse by the constant stream of triggering content on platforms like TikTok. Isabelle opens up about how social media shaped her self-perception and how therapy, hospitalization, and strong family support helped her begin to heal.
Today I will share the start of my interview with Isabelle. It is a powerful piece that could serve as a good starting point for an important conversation with teens in your life.
Please also know the our conversation includes discussion of eating disorders, body image, and related experiences, so please read or listen with care. And if you or someone you love is affected by these issues you’ll find a list of support resources below.
What is wonderful is that we hear not only from Isabelle but also from her parents and how things changed for Isabelle, who was starting college when I interviewed her.
So here is part of our conversation, which starts with Isabelle talking about when the exercise and eating disorder, beginning when she was in 8th grade.
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