From the time she was 4 years old, Jenni Schaefer heard the voice of her eating disorder, Ed, judge her. The personified voice of her disease needled her for years about her body and eating habits, eventually controlling many aspects of her life.

Many years later, Schaefer is now telling her story and helping others through her new role as a national recovery advocate at the new Eating Recovery Center in Bellevue.

“It’s really surreal that I’m here right now and working with this organization. I want to show young people that hope is there and a full recovery is possible,” she said.

The center, which opened on Overlake Medical Center’s campus earlier this month, is the only facility in the Pacific Northwest that will treat children 8 years and older. The state-of-the-art facility also pulls from new research, addresses the changing demographics and integrates family members into treatment.

Over the last two decades, physicians have seen the demographics of eating disorder sufferers change dramatically. Not only are the patients getting younger and younger, but the groups that used to be “protected” — such as people of Hispanic and African descent, both cultures that generally prefer curvier physiques — are now seeing higher rates of eating afflictions.

The cultural barriers that used to be in place to protect these groups are now being eroded by social pressures, researchers report.

“In a community like [Bellevue], with high levels of education, good jobs, high income, there are certainly benefits. But there are also expectations placed on children, some that parents don’t even mean to place on them. There are certainly downsides,” said Dr. Ovidio Bermudez, the medical director at the new Eating Recovery Center.

In a broader view, mental health professionals are seeing stress at the center of the illnesses they’re treating. But, Bermudez added, the current understanding of eating disorders is that they arise from the interplay of genetic and environmental factors.

People with certain temperaments — generally either under- or over-controlling — and/or other mental health issues have a greater occurrence of eating disorders, Bermudez said research shows.

For many decades, the common theory was that eating disorders derived from family dysfunction.

“Before about 2000, we were really blaming families. Patients were being kept from their family during treatment. I think it ignored the premise that when a child is struggling, you adapt your parenting. Now, we’ve opened the door for families to be agents of change,” said Bermudez.

Schaefer’s family was surprised when she finally started getting treatment and revealed her struggles to them, she said. Throughout school, she had a 4.0 GPA, was in the National Honor Society and generally seemed fine. But, the broader view of eating disorders and other mental illnesses is that stress and genetics are often at the center.

Being able to rely on her family’s support was beneficial during Schaefer’s recovery, she said.

“Back then, there weren’t a lot of programs like this one. My recovery certainly would have been a lot faster … My family felt really guilty that they didn’t detect it, but they realized they needed to put their guilt aside. They didn’t cause Ed, but they could really help me,” she said.