Last year, nearly 70,000 people reached out to the National Eating Disorders Association helpline.
Demand more than doubled during COVID, and still hasn’t returned to pre-pandemic levels. But late this spring the Association shut the helpline down and added a chatbot instead.
Today on the podcast, we look at why the National Eating Disorders Association made this move, and what it means for the people who need this support the most.
Since Michigan Radio’s reporting on this, NEDA has taken down a version of Tessa that was up and running online. When asked why, NEDA says the bot is being “updated,” and the latest ”version of the current program [will be] available soon."
GUEST ON TODAY'S EPISODE:
Kate Wells, Michigan Radio reporter
[Get Stateside on your phone: subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or Spotify today.]
— —
Looking for more conversations from Stateside? Right this way.
If you like what you hear on the pod, consider supporting our work.
Music in this episode byBlue Dot Sessions.
