Are you or someone you know suffering from an eating disorder and seeking help?

Administrators from NEDA, the National Eating Disorder Association, will be coming to Moorpark College for NEDAwareness Week, Feb. 26 through Mar. 3. As detailed on its website, “NEDA supports individuals and families affected by eating disorders, and serves as a catalyst for prevention, cures, and access to quality care.”

This will mark Moorpark’s fourth consecutive year hosting NEDAwareness week, adding to the college’s twenty-year tradition of sponsoring eating disorder symposiums. Sharon Manakas, Moorpark’s Registered Nurse and Student Health Coordinator, will be organizing the upcoming events.

“Eating disorders are not a short-term fix,” Manakas says. “It’s an ongoing process for those involved.”

It is a process sufferers do not have to face alone. NEDA officials invite all Moorpark students and community members to connect with them during NEDAwareness week.

• On Monday, Feb. 27 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., a Registered Dietitian and a Marriage and Family Therapist will be available for questions at an information table in the Campus Center.

• On Tuesday, Feb. 28 from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., the documentary “Killing Us Softly 4: Advertising’s Image of Women” will be shown in the EATM Auditorium, Room 208. Following the film will be a question and answer session with Certified Eating Disorder Specialists, a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner, and a Registered Dietitian.

• On Thursday, March 1 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., directors from Malibu’s Monte Nido Eating Disorder Treatment Center will be present at an information table in the Campus Center.

“The purpose of these events is to help our community find resources,” nurse Manakas says. “To get in, talk to people, and connect with them.”

Moorpark College also offers free nutritional counseling in its Student Heath Center, and students can always book on-campus medical appointments to see Manakas, a nurse practitioner, or a psychologist. All health services are included with tuition, but psychologist visits are limited to four per semester. After a fourth visit, students are referred off-campus for proper treatment.

To book an appointment, stop by the Student Health Center in the Administration Building, Room 111, or call directly at 805-378-1413.

If you think you may be showing symptoms of an eating disorder, take the first step to healing with an anonymous self-screening test at http://www.mentalhealthscreening.org/screening/MOORPARK.

The National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders estimates that over 24 million people in the U.S. suffer from either anorexia, bulimia, or binge eating disorder. Do not let yourself become a statistic. Moorpark College and The National Eating Disorder Association are here to help.

Rachel Matusko, Sarah Garcia, and Moorpark College History Professor Daniel Darby at the National Eating Disorder Awarness (NEDA) information table at Moorpark College on Thursday, March 1, 2012. National Eating Disorders Awarness runs until March 3, 2012. (Jeffrey Farrar)