Diet culture puts unrealistic pressure on everyone — children and adults alike — to live within a narrow range of false and dangerous ideals. It does not accept that healthy people can come in many shapes and sizes. Diet culture sends the wrong message that people need to be in thinner bodies in order to be valued, and mistakenly pressures people to value being thin even when thinness may be disconnected from any real health benefits.
Let’s pause and think about the word “trust.” It is such a powerful word. It is likely flattering when someone says they trust you. And it is likely worrisome when someone says they do not trust you. Yet, whether it is an absence of trust or simply a tarnished trust, we must understand the human dynamics before we can ameliorate human relationships hampered by trust issues. The following will explore the meaning of the word trust as it applies to a person’s trust of another person.
Toward the end of my first stint as a child psychologist, a high school classmate’s sister called during the ten-minute gap between patients. I took the call because I remembered her, and I was curious. It turned out to be one of those times my own thoughts came out of someone else’s mouth, which is why it’s stuck with me so long.