New Eating Disorder Television Series: Will It Help Or Hurt Us?

E! Entertainment Television has announced a six-episode series about compulsive eating disorders under the working title “What’s Eating You?”

The show will feature people whose lives are at risk as they battle their warped body images and life-threatening food issues. A group of trained medical professionals and nutrition specialists will help patients on the road to recovery. The series will also explore the question of how much society is at fault for these patients’ obsession with “perfection.”

One episode features a woman who eats a roll of toilet paper dipped in pickle juice every night before bed, while another concerns a woman who eats everything from paper towels to magazines in her sleep without ever realizing it.
The big question for me is if it will be useful for us or not. Will it sensationalize the issue just enough that people who are portrayed are seen as crazy? After all, I know a number of people with eating disorders and I’m pretty sure they never ate toilet paper.