Caitlin (Expert) Interview

The conversation discusses the impact of body image trends on mental health, particularly among students. It highlights how unrealistic beauty standards on social media can contribute to eating disorders and mental issues. Signs of struggling with body image include food behaviors and exhaustion. Psychology courses emphasize how these pressures can lead to clinical issues, including addiction and even suicide. Recommendations for college students include moderation in eating, fueling the body with good food, and balancing exercise with rest. A key takeaway is that everyone is dealing with something, and struggles may manifest in unexpected ways. Do you mind stating your first and last names? I'm not gonna use that, I just need to know. No, it's okay. I do these ones all the time, don't worry. T-A-I-T-L-I-N, Kaitlin. And then M-C-H-U-G-H, McHugh. Perfect, thank you. I'm sorry. Okay, so from what you've studied in psychology, how can body image trends, kind of like the ultra skinny trend and like wanting to be skinnier affect students' mental health, do you think? I think when it comes to body image, that's something that is difficult for everyone, especially women, but with lack of nutrition and these body trends, it ends up starving your mind too and it's hard for students to be able to learn and grow. And do you think social media makes these like unrealistic beauty standards more powerful? Yeah, so seeing it every day and, you know, reflecting on it and if even the first thing you see when you wake up in the morning, it definitely puts a false idea into your head and makes people, it makes it, hold on, I gotta think about what I wanna say. It changes the way you view yourself and other people and I also think for men specifically, it makes them have these crazy ideals of like how a woman should look or how a woman should act. So I think everything being on social media, it impacts us probably 10 times harder. Yeah, I agree. And do you think there are any like obvious signs that you can see from someone that might be struggling with like their body image or an eating disorder? Yeah, so one thing that I always look for when I'm around like my friends and I see someone struggling is like, are they actually eating their food or are they just like playing around with it? That's like one common sign. Another is someone obsessing over calories or working out. Things like when your food, being super strict with intake versus outtake. Another thing is exhaustion. If someone's always exhausted but you don't see them eating that much, that could be a sign that, you know, they're dealing with an issue, something related to eating habits. And do your psychology courses kind of teach you that these pressures can kind of lead to like mental issues or clinical issues? Yeah, so when it comes to eating disorders specifically, if you're not fueling your body, your mind's not able to function. And so people that usually are abusing, not abusing, I'm sorry. People that are usually like starving themselves or bulimic, they sometimes develop addiction issues as well because things like stimulants suppress appetite. So that's one thing with laxatives. And then, yeah, it can also end with suicide sadly because people aren't fueling their body. Yeah, do you have any like advice or any strategies that can help those people, like specifically college students with all these pressures around being thin or like having the perfect body, which can lead to eating disorder? Yeah, like I think every, you know, food is bad food. Everything is fine in moderation, you know. Trying to eat something in the morning will help your body get your metabolism going. And then just making sure you're eating like good food that will fuel your body because you need that energy. So I think just fueling your body and like exercising, but also taking time for your body to rest and recover. Yeah, is there any like really strong takeaway from like learning in psychology in your major that you really, that has stuck with you? Sorry, that was phrase weirdly. No, it's okay. I think is that everyone is going through something, whether you can see it or not. And the way people struggle can come out in ways that you wouldn't expect. So someone, for an example, someone with an eating disorder might show off how much food they're eating, but really they're not actually eating it. They're trying to manipulate the way that you see them eat, just things like that. So it's all very interesting, but yeah, everyone's going through their own thing all the time. Okay, well, that'll be all my questions for tonight. Thank you so much for your time and your help. Yeah, did I do fine? Was that fine?