Content warning: This article discusses eating disorders, fatphobia, diet culture and weight gain. If you are struggling with these issues, seek support from the National Eating Disorders Association’s helpline. For crisis situations, text “NEDA” to 741741 to be connected with a trained volunteer at Crisis Text Line.

By Ashley M. Casey

Associate Editor

Businesses, schools and churches may have screeched to a halt during the coronavirus pandemic, but just because the world has come to a stop does not mean eating disorders take a break.

“Folks who have been in recovery for a while and have been stable are reaching out for support,” said Holly Lowery, chief operating officer of Ophelia’s Place, a Liverpool nonprofit that connects people to support groups and treatment options for eating disorders.

Lowery said attendance for Ophelia’s Place’s virtual support groups has increased during the pandemic as more people struggle with social isolation.

“That’s something that this population already struggles with. Eating disorders essentially grow when they’re happening in secret,” Lowery said. “We knew that would potentially be heightened during that and unfortunately that’s something we’re seeing come to fruition. The community component of treatment is vital.”

While the number of people seeking services from Ophelia’s Place has grown, the organization’s revenue has shrunk. Café at 407, the eatery that shares a building with Ophelia’s Place, normally provides 35% of the organization’s funding. The café was forced to close during the pandemic and has reopened with limited hours.

The Central New York Community Foundation has helped fill the gap in funding with a $30,000 operational grant. CNYCF has distributed nearly $700,000 in community grants this year toward emergency relief efforts in Onondaga and Madison counties.

“The grant to Ophelia’s Place is a very rare operational grant that we would not normally have made,” said said Danielle Johnson, director of grants and initiatives at the Community Foundation. “It’s such an incredible service for people struggling with eating disorders. We really wanted to step in and help with operational funding. There were three like that in this round: Syracuse City Ballet and Madison Cortland Arc.”

Lowery said Ophelia’s Place received funding in the second round of CNYCF’s community grant program.

“It’s meant to help bridge that gap because now all of a sudden in a matter of one day all of that [revenue] had come to a halt,” she said. “Obviously nobody saw COVID-19 coming. Our biggest fundraiser, which is our Fall Slow Supper … it’s very intimate. That’s not in the cards this year. We’re working to reconfigure it but it’s not going to be the same.”

Johnson said the services Ophelia’s Place provides are vital not just in a typical year but especially during the pandemic.

“They have been very good about being nimble during this time. The services they provide are very critical, particularly in times like these [when] there is high stress that can create triggers for people who are struggling with eating disorders,” she said.

Lowery said quarantine has been difficult for many people who struggle with eating disorders as they are cut off from their usual support network.

“Sometimes families aren’t really understanding of what is happening to their loved one,” she said. “I think we’re seeing folks rally in creative ways to support themselves and each other. Humans are very innovative in finding ways to connect with each other.”

Another damaging aspect of the pandemic are the memes and jokes about emotional eating and weight gain that have proliferated on social media: “Due to coronavirus, my summer body will be postponed until 2021,” reads one. Another shows a Barbie doll next to a larger Photoshopped “Carbie” doll with the text “Me in quarantine: before and after.”

“One of the biggest predictors of developing an eating disorders is dieting, fear of gaining weight and poor body image,” Lowery said.

The memes imply people should be restricting their caloric intake so they don’t gain weight, but many people with eating disorders struggle to eat enough to nourish their bodies.

Lowery said these jokes are fatphobic and harmful to people of all sizes.

“Fatphobia convinces us there’s a right way to have a body and a right way to look. If I joke, ‘Oh gosh, I’m going to gain the COVID 15’ and someone next to me is living in a larger body, what are they going to think?” Lowery said.

The focus on weight and appearance is missing the point during the pandemic, Lowery said.

“Of all the ways humans cope with [trauma], eating is by far not the worst,” she said. “There are so many other things in life that need our attention right now.”

Life is slowly returning to normal at 407 Tulip St. The Upstate New York Eating Disorders Service dietitians and the private practice therapist who work out of Ophelia’s Place are starting to see patients in person as well as continuing virtual appointments. Café at 407 has reopened on a limited basis from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday.

“We had a huge menu before which was delicious but also hard to execute. We’ve tried to streamline it to make it more sustainable for us from a labor perspective and a cost perspective,” Lowery said.

The pandemic has necessitated a change in procedure at the café. Gone are the communal water jug, salt shakers and bins of silverware, replaced by single-serve packets of salt and pepper and wrapped silverware handed out by staff with each order. Tables are spaced out within the café, and outdoor tables have been moved across the street to Johnson Park.

The deli coolers in the café are filled with grab-and-go items — granola bars, quarts of chicken salad, pitas — and Café at 407 is urging patrons to “embrace a different kind of eating out,” Lowery said.

Combating eating disorders, fatphobia and diet culture is a year-round battle. Lowery encourages people to listen to their bodies and show compassion for themselves and others. Ophelia’s Place offers The Every Body Is Beautiful Project digital education course, which promotes self-esteem, awareness and access to treatment and support options for disordered eating. Visit opheliasplace.org to register for the course or learn more about the organization’s services.

“We’ve had over 200 people enroll from more than 18 different countries around the world and the impact we’ve seen on people who’ve graduated from the course is tremendous,” Lowery said.

As for the Community Foundation, Johnson said its mission would not be possible without the generosity of Central New Yorkers.

“I think it’s really important for people to understand that grants like this are only possible through the generosity of our donors,” she said. “We’re very fortunate in this community to have generous people. The needs of the community are going to change day to day and year to year. It’s because of their neighbors that grants like this are able to be made.”