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" &amp;quot;I am a college sophomore living with two girls who have been diagnosed with eating disorders. How can I not let their skewed body image and eating habits affect my own?&amp;quot; \u2014Katie, 19 Wow, Katie, you bring up such a great question. It&amp;#039;s incredibly important that you not let their disease (and eating disorders are a clinical mental illness) seep into the way you see yourself. It&amp;#039;d be good, if you haven&amp;#039;t already, to read as much information on eating disorders as you can. I&amp;#039;d also suggest having a chat with your roommates, especially if they are open to discussing their experiences, and ask them in particular what kind of help they are receiving (counseling, under a doctor&amp;#039;s care, etc.) just so you know that they are getting help. If they aren&amp;#039;t under treatment of any kind, it&amp;#039;s really important that you don&amp;#039;t allow their behavior to become your own, and it&amp;#039;s dangerous when you are all living together and there are two girls dealing with EDs.  Finally, I&amp;#039;d encourage you to visit your counseling center on campus and set up an appointment to talk to a counselor yourself to get more tips on how to better handle your situation. There is nothing wrong with being loaded up with resources to help you maintain your own self-esteem. As tempting as it may be at times to wonder if your way of thinking about your body is &amp;quot;normal,&amp;quot; just remember that you can and will hold your own space of self-love in this situation while being as understanding as you can be with your roommates. Good luck and keep me posted! Jess Weiner is an author, self-esteem expert, and Seventeen&amp;#039;s new Body Peace adviser. To ask Jess your body-image questions, share your thoughts, or vent your frustrations, leave your comments below or send them here. Jess will answer new questions every week! Learn more about Jess at withjess.com. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.seventeen.com/health/advice/a1629/jess-blog-30508/>