Anorexia: Inspiring recovery story

Posted on by Sam Storey

“Through my experience with anorexia I have learnt that it is possible to work through trauma and regain control, and to accept myself for everything I am” – Amy, 26

I was 12 years old when I was diagnosed with anorexia nervosa. At the time this was a completely foreign term and one that took me another decade to finally acknowledge, begin to process, and then recover from. 16 years later I can proudly say I am in remission; the journey is still ongoing but when I look back at who I was and where I used to be, I can be kind to that little girl and not see her as the enemy.

What follows is an account of my experience with and recovery from anorexia nervosa.

Fasting as a means of control

As a child I struggled with eating, I was fussy and picky and found it difficult to eat certain foods which were out of my comfort zone. I never had school dinners and eating at friends’ houses was always a struggle because I found it hard not being able to control what I was being given. I feel that it’s important to note that these are reflections I have made in recovery, at the time it wasn’t a noticeable issue, merely a young child who was a picky eater. At 12 years old, when I went to high school things began to change and I was forced to adapt to a new environment, new people, and new experiences.

Looking back on my experience with an eating disorder, the one word that stands out to me is control. Control is defined as ‘the power to influence or direct people’s behaviour or the course of events’ – as the one thing that I felt I didn’t have external access to, I looked inwards to attempt to establish control.

The scales became my best friend and my worst enemy, I couldn’t go a day without stepping onto them to check my weight, and on the bad days I could barely go a few hours without watching them settle on a number which held such significance in my life for over a decade. If the number was too high, I would restrict myself and if the number was too low, I would have a moment of elation, followed by a wave of self-hatred which fuelled further restrictions. A never-ending cycle of restricting and exercising excessively allowed me to control my body, making myself thinner and thinner until I was barely more than skin and bone.  

Doctors, disassociation and deception

My body became the physical embodiment of my trauma and a reflection of my pain, but I never thought I had a problem.

The weight loss gave me an illusion of strength, power, and control. The more I lost, the better I felt. When in reality each pound I shed came with more complications; I began to lose my hair and bone density, my nails and teeth became brittle, and I was losing consciousness due to malnutrition.  

Family members and doctors became concerned for my physical health, I was severely underweight for my age, and they didn’t know what to do to help me. My parents were out of their depth, they did everything they could to encourage me to eat more, sleep more and build my strength, but through this I only took a more calculated approach. I would be seen to eat at the table for dinner and disguise my frame in baggier clothes, but behind closed doors there was no food being eaten and the exercising was obsessive to the point where I would collapse from exhaustion.

Working with my doctors a food diary was suggested to log my daily intake. I found this extremely difficult – seeing everything on paper was a trigger, one I learnt to dissociate from when I went to my appointments.

Around three years after my diagnosis my physical health was so bad that an ultimatum was given. Gain weight now or you will be made an inpatient.

At the time both concepts were abhorrent to me, if I gained weight, I wouldn’t be able to live with myself, but if I went inpatient, I wouldn’t have any control and I would be forced to eat by people I didn’t trust. This marked the beginning of one of the darkest times in my journey. I was able to maintain a weight deemed ‘safe’ by the practitioners and my parents were happy with my ‘progress’, but in reality I was spiralling deeper into depression, dissociating to manage daily life, and self-harming to try and feel something.

My lightbulb moment

This cycle continued for the next 7 years, until at 22 years old, 10 years since my first diagnosis, I was able to recognise and acknowledge that I was suffering from anorexia, and it was time to change.

 When we talk about eating disorders, we’re often focused on the physical ramifications, however, in my experience, it is primarily a disorder of the mind. Obsessing over my weight and my food intake was my way of maintaining control, a control which gave me purpose but was ultimately killing me.

The acknowledgement was difficult and met with resistance, but I now had a healthy purpose and a reason to carry on even if I hadn’t consciously become aware of it at that time. I was able to slowly make changes and to accept the support I was being offered.

After years of obsessing over pro-ana websites (where anorexia is portrayed positively as a lifestyle choice rather than disorder and condition) , Pinterest boards and social media accounts which promoted an unhealthy and unrealistic representation of beauty, I rechannelled my energy into more productive activities. I read books which made me feel powerful, journaled regularly and found joy in the things I had once been afraid of.

My first positive experience with support was my introduction to the charity, Beat, an eating disorder charity which understood what I was going through and didn’t try to force changes. I got to choose when I was ready to make changes, and which changes to try…

This was a stark contrast to the experiences I had received previously with doctors and practitioners, who unfortunately had not been trained effectively in eating disorder care.

Working through the ‘why’

As a result of my experience with Beat, I felt comfortable enough to start work with my first therapist. I was terrified about opening up and speaking about this ‘thing’ I had protected for the past decade, and I had no idea how to even begin to address it.

One of the many revelations that came from therapy was that I had actually developed anorexia before I was 10 years old, although I was diagnosed at 12, the disordered patterns that led to this began long before.

Over the decade of actively battling my eating disorder the main question I would be asked was ‘why?’, and as is the case with a lot of mental illness, I just didn’t know.

I didn’t know why I was doing it; I didn’t know what was happening to me. I was told I was struggling with body image and body dysmorphia, and this had materialised into an eating disorder, so this was the script I relayed to everyone who asked me, and it was the answer I gave in my therapist’s room as though it was my truth.

It took a lot of work and recognition of past trauma to realise that my eating disorder was a physical materialisation of the control childhood abuse had taken from me. It was also a manifestation of my desperation to connect with something that I was able to protect entirely – a vulnerable and terrified inner child who needed me.

If you’ve experienced childhood abuse and need support, I’d highly recommend The National Association for People Abused in Childhood, who can be contacted via support@napac.org.uk or on 0808 801 0331.

Recovery

My recovery journey has not been easy, there have been relapses and times of hopelessness, and although it is a battle I will have to face every day, it is one I am now equipped to fight.

Through my experience I have learnt that it is possible to work through trauma and regain control, to accept myself for everything I am and to recognise the parts of my life which my eating disorder was fuelling.

This is still a work in progress., Every day I am learning more about the person I am and want to be, and this gives me hope for my future.

I do not feel thankful for my eating disorder or the experiences which caused it, but I am grateful for the opportunity to share my story and hopefully to reassure others that you are not alone, this is not your fault, and the fight is worth it.

Eating Disorders in Pregnancy

Posted on by ncfed

Pregnancy can be a difficult time for people with eating disorders.

In normal circumstances, hormones lead to weight gain and eating changes to support the additional 80,000 calories needed for the pregnancy and ongoing breastfeeding.

Regular weighing takes place to check the health of the mother and child, and to ensure that the baby is getting adequate nutrition for central nervous system health at the least. Weighing helps to against gestational diabetes and alert about dangerous conditions like pre eclampsia. Weighing can be traumatic for people with body image issues.

Sadly, there is a great deal of pressure on social media for women to gain as little weight as possible during pregnancy as a “badge of pride,” ignoring the effects that this might have on a child’s future mental and physical wellbeing.

For people with eating and body image issues, pregnancy can be very difficult.

Here are some of the dangers associated with different types of ED in pregnancy.

Bulimia

Binge eating and purging during pregnancy is dangerous, for example loss of potassium as a result of purging including laxative abuse might impair development of the central nervous system of the developing baby. Nutritional support to help prevent cravings is needed alongside urgent help to manage their eating disorder.

Anorexia

Some people living with AN give themselves a holiday from the ED and permit themselves to eat only to begin restricting after childbirth. Others continue to restrict and may not cope with looking pregnant. The risks to mother and child in such situations are critical and the person with AN during pregnancy needs a great deal of compassionate help.

Binge & compulsive eating

Binge eating is not just taking in a lot of food. Because binge eating is usually highly processed sugar rich food that provides emotional comfort, there are profound metabolic effects. These in turn can switch on epigenetic changes that predict future weight struggles in the developing child. People who enter pregnancy with pre existing struggles to control eating and weight need informed help to manage their relationship with food from the get-go.

They do NOT need being shamed by health professionals about size or weight gain and they do NOT need well-meaning advice about how to eat a healthier diet.

Every single pregnant woman with runaway weight gain during pregnancy will benefit from compassionate help from someone who can talk to them without blame about their relationship with food.

Pregnant women do not respond well to midwives and doctors telling them what they should do for the good of their baby. The best way to protect the baby is to look after the mother and the people who support her.

Resources

Kings College London has a Video to support women in Pregnancy https://www.kcl.ac.uk/archive/news/ioppn/records/2018/february/new-animation-enhances-support-for-women-with-eating-disorders-during-pregnancy?fbclid=IwAR319Yju4dSQXJkAaJpd7h4JbMWCmqTEEOU4IxrJPrSlgvus4JG_lp7v740

Here is another perinatal support website

Resources

The British Journal of Midwifery has an article to support midwives – hope they read this

https://www.britishjournalofmidwifery.com/content/clinical-practice/eating-disorders-in-pregnancy-practical-considerations-for-the-midwife/?fbclid=IwAR3R0G-OPxXZDvgcejWeP3RtAw0gpuK6y6UGhnXSkssKubSDdqIaHnCBOXU

Susie Orbach talks about the needs of eating disordered women during pregnancy. See her podcast Life After Diets with Susie Orbach, https://youtu.be/OhaVwcp9pqc

If you are expecting a child, and need compassionate help with your eating disorder, call us now
0845 838 2040

Bikini Body Outrage

Posted on by ncfed

A Brummie Mummy has has invented a wooden bikini into which you can insert coins for every pound of weight you lose to get into a bikini body.

To get summer bikini body ready.

There is a WEDDING DRESS version for women to get sized down for their big day. I wonder how many men “fit-up-slim-down for their big day?

is this what women are supposed to eat so that they can have fun at the beach?

There is not an equivalent wooden weight loss “trunks” for men. We have to put an end to this kind of nonsense

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-61881412

Children with ARFID Family Support Group

Posted on by ncfed

A monthly family support group with Jenny Phaure

Family Skills for Autism and Disordered Eating Monthly Psycho-Education and Coaching Group.  

This group is now open for referrals and bookings from Charities, Mental Health Teams, Eating Disorder Services, Social Care, Allied Health Professionals, GP’s, Therapists and independent providers.  

Why is there a need for this group?

Up to 70% of Autistic Children may experience atypical eating behaviours, many have issues with food or eating. Whilst research indicates that between 25-30% of those with Anorexia Nervosa also meet the diagnostic criteria for Autism there is a much larger number of autistic children, young people and adults who experience avoidant, restricted and disordered eating patterns.

Avoidant, Restricted and Disordered Eating patterns may be a precursor to Anorexia Nervosa or may exist alongside other Eating Disorders such as Bulimia Nervosa or Binge Eating Disorder.   This group is the only Family Skills for Autism and Disordered Eating Group in the United Kingdom and has been set up due to the need to provide more immediate support to families living with Autism and Eating Disorders.   With limited recourse to local or national autism specific services it is vital that parents/families are given access to essential psycho-education, tools and strategies to support their loved ones at home or in the community. Families are often the most important resource.

A Monthly Psycho-education and Coaching Group   with Jenny Phaure (Child and Adolescent Psychotherapist)  
2 hours on line via zoom   Wednesday 20th July (10.00am – 12.00pm)    

Family Skills for Autism and Eating Disorders  

Using positive psychological approaches to improve mood and food regulation.    

Cost: £45 per person     Bookings via service contracts or block bookings are available for those referred via a service provider. Please call: 07545 190915 for more information.  

Your facilitator Jenny Phaure

Can an Eating Disorder Service also offer Obesity Treatment

Posted on by ncfed

Yes, if the service is specified as two -sided and clear about the distinction between eating disorder treatment and weight loss coaching.

At the National Centre for Eating Disorders we do a holistic assessment of a person to ensure that no significant eating disorder is present; if it is present we make it clear that there are to be no weight loss attempts during treatment for the eating disorder and such a person might not in the future be suitable for intentional weight loss.

It is incorrect to assume that all people wanting weight change have an eating disorder.

If we agree after assessment to support a client in their weight change intentions, we will engage in a manner consistent with good practice and we have transformed many lives. Some of our clients have had a history of binge eating / bulimic disorders and have gained weight throughout the years because they have not had timely treatment for their eating disorder. We empathise with their desire to change weight if the time is right.

In such a case we would not do anything that would reactivate their eating disorder.

Weight loss “guidance / therapy”, does not imply dieting or food rules or boot-camping nor does it have goal weights. Nor does it require endless searching into childhood adversity. Nor is it HAES although they have some but not all, very good points.  The service includes bariatric counselling. Some people, with our help, decide that they are happy as they are. The ultimate outcome is flourishing.

We market obesity treatment because of the numbers of desperate people INCLUDING therapists who seek our help. It must mean something that over the course of 40 years no one entering our service has complained about stigma.  No therapist training with us over the same period has raised a complaint about anti-fat bias.

Activists who have not done our training are pitching against us with total ignorance about what we do. It interests us that while they are intolerant of the word “obesity” they bandy the term “fat” as if it means something different. Really?

What worries us at NCFED is the number of activists who actively try to deny people from having access to good weight change help; who wish to prevent therapists from learning about strategies that might work, and who wish to withhold from the public factual information about some health risks of living in a larger body. On top of this, no activist is able to come up with a single client or psychotherapist trained by NCFED who has been “traumatised” by weight stigma.

The NCFED has no need to make a big deal about inclusivity. We have therapists of all genders, races, religions, tribes and colours. We treat people without needing labels. Inclusivity is woven into our trainings and the first thing we do is delve into the history, generational issues, declared identity and value systems, of each individual in a place of complete acceptance.

I will not give the litmus of attention to angry people. Certainly, it is right to question the old “sacred cows” and reflect on their meaning and purpose. Having reflected, we feel good about what we do and we will not kowtow to aggression. People in the community who do not have a clinically significant eating disorder, who desire intentional weight change, deserve far better help than the traditional diet and lifestyle methods that do not work. They can come to us for that help, given by people we trust.

Meanwhile, Our amazing course, Essential Obesity: Psychological Interventions, next date June 2022

How to Help People with an Eating Disorder to Recover: Guest Blog

Posted on by ncfed

The term “eating disorder” covers a wide range of conditions such as anorexia, bulimia and binge eating. If you have a relative or friend suffering from one of these conditions, it is only natural that you will want to help.

The first thing you can do is learn about their particular eating disorder so you can understand what they are going through. There are many articles on our website. Another option is to persuade them to seek professional medical assistance. Unfortunately, this can often prove challenging. You cannot force someone to see a doctor if they don’t want to go (except in certain circumstances). It would be far better if you could encourage them to seek help willingly or even offer to accompany them.    

There are ways of providing support:

  • Help them build up their self-esteem. Tell them how much you appreciate having them in your life. This can give them confidence and help them feel better too.
  • Make them feel valued. A person with an eating disorder may feel depressed and less inclined to go out or join in with your usual activities. Nevertheless, ask them anyway; even if they decline, they will be happy that you made the effort.
  •  Lend an ear. This is sometimes not an easy thing to do, especially if your friend says something about themselves that you disagree with. such as that they are fine. Remember, you don’t want to argue, you just want to be there for them.        

Healthcare perspective on eating disorders

The NHS is aware of, and in fact alarmed by, the rising numbers of eating disorder sufferers. Many of these cases involve children. It is believed that the best option for people struggling with this type of mental health problem is for healthcare professionals to carry out an early intervention.

However, in the UK, only the most extreme cases get the help they need, or hospital treatment if it is appropriate. More often than not, your relative or friend if help is offered at all, they will need to attend counselling support as an outpatient. According to this article, one possible reason for this is that there are not enough mental healthcare nurses.

Treatment for eating disorders

The recommended treatment for an eating disorder is usually some form of talking therapy targeted specifically toward eating disorder behaviour. A therapist will try to uncover the motivation behind the patient’s refusal to eat, or behave in other ways that are harmful. Part of what keeps some one trapped in an eating disorder is that it has become a way to manage their feelings. The therapist could then help the person learn a better way of coping with emotional difficulties. Some people with eating disorders can benefit from a self help programme. They may also undergo regular health checks to ensure that they are sticking to their treatment. As a friend, you can accompany them on their journey and provide moral support.

Eating disorder treatment does not force people to change. Forcing people to eat is only possible if they have lost an extreme amount of weight or they are starving themselves to death. In either circumstance, a doctor’s approval is required for this type of drastic measure.

Recovery may take several weeks or even years if the eating disorder is severe. It is a slow process but it will at least ensure that your relative or friend has time to get accustomed to their treatment plan. The earlier the treatment is started, the better their chances of making a swift recovery.

Conclusion

People suffering from an eating disorder are likely to need the support of their loved ones, especially during the recovery process. It is important that you encourage them to seek professional help, especially if they are denying that anything is wrong or promising that things will be different tomorrow. They will also need to recognise how they can cope more positively even in challenging circumstances. An optimistic attitude is essential as recovery may take some time. Unfortunately, there is the possibility that they will relapse and return to their old ways. If this does happen, try to offer your support and help them get back on the path to good health.

The Crown: Netflix and Diana’s Bulimia

Posted on by ncfed

THE CROWN: Bulimia and The Princess of Wales

Netflix are about to broadcast their latest edition of The Crown showing Diana in the throes of bulimia nervosa. We are led to believe that her unkind and thoughtless treatment at the hands of the Prince of Wales was responsible for her decline into poor mental health and a ravaging eating disorder that dogged her life for years.

We are told, but will never know if this is true, that she first purged before her wedding, in the context of knowing that her future husband was close to another woman, Camilla Parker Bowles.

We will believe that dealing with a huge amount of stress was responsible for her poor mental health and eating issues. This stress included her loveless marriage, her unkind and dismissive husband, and the pressures of the expectations heaped upon her shoulders as a future queen.

If Diana had been put in this position in 2020, there is no doubt that she would have had access before even becoming engaged, to much better guidance and support than was available to her then.

I, like many viewers have struggled not to feel a great deal of pity for the situation in which this young woman found herself, together with anger about the unkindness of the family in which she had been thrust. But, I also find it hard to blame the Royal Family or any of its members for her eating disorder. With courage or confidence, she could have expressed her outrage differently, but then she simply didn’t know how.

We know that bulimia nervosa is not “caused” by anything. It has its roots in the personality of the sufferer and any adverse events they may have suffered in childhood that have weakened their self- esteem and stopped them from being able to express their wants and needs. One example of such a trauma was her mother; abandoning her at a very young age, leading her to believe perhaps that she was not important enough to the most important person in her world.

We know that people with bulimia tend to be sensitive, perfectionist, they tend to over-think and they lack a great deal of self-confidence. Diana will have brought all of these traits into her relationship with the Prince of Wales. A person carrying that deadly disposition to developing a mental health problem will not be able to cope when the going gets rough.

Diana has flagged up her eating disorder as a “cry for help” and perhaps she is convinced that it was, or maybe this was offered as an explanation by her various therapists. I prefer to think of bulimia nervosa as the preferred way of coping with emotions that are overwhelming when someone lacks the language of emotions or the permission to express what they feel.  It is no surprise, therefore, that bulimia lost its hold – and, she was able to tolerate being a healthy body weight, when she discovered her confidence and found a more authentic purpose for her life.

What triggered her act of purging in the first place will never be known. It pre-dated her marriage and from that moment the eating disorder was ready to blow up and engulf her.  I would imagine that blaming the cruelty and the thoughtlessness of other people did not lead to change even if she was only able to thrive outside of that toxic and loveless environment.  What helped her to recover was rediscovering her voice and gaining permission to deserve to eat. Anyone with bulimia nervosa will need specialist help to recover, by targeted focus on self and building something much bigger than the relationship with food.

Covid19, Obesity & weighing children

Posted on by ncfed

I’ve been watching the Twitterstorms and the media circus about the virus, lockdown weight gain, weight loss plans and weighing children in schools

I don’t approve of weighing children in schools after the age of 11. Secondary school children are too weight sensitive and have enough on their plate anyway without the additional shame and worry that is caused by weighing them.

Weight gain is part of adolescence anyway. Bones and organs are growing, boys are adding muscle, girls might be weighed before menstruation, when their weight might be a little higher than usual due to hormones.

Kids think that dieting is the best response to weight gain. What do they know! Dieting is a high risk factor for getting an eating disorder. It can provoke anorexia in some, compulsive eating in others, bulimia in a few. One an eating disorder has its claws in you, it doesn’t go away soon. So please please THINK AGAIN, this proposal is INSANE!

Weighing kids before 11 is OK if it goes along with the usual stuff, height, nits, foot health, weight. OK so we are worried about obesity? Well I accept that. We cant put our heads in the sand and pretend it doesn’t matter. If the virus likes a well-covered person too much, it is what it is.

Fat CAN make some people sick. Sedentary lifestyle can make some people sick as well. Even some healthy diets can make some people sick. Shame and body hatred makes people sick.

Weighing children could be useful if there was proper joined up thinking. The parents of an overweight child mustn’t get the dreaded fat-letter. What use is that going to be other than make them mad. Don’t call my child fat! Who cares anyway! Its only puppy fat!

Parents worried about their child’s weight need access to a coach, someone who is properly trained to help without conferring judgement, shame and guidance. They don’t need diet sheets or good advice given by someone who probably lives on salad and mung beans.

I did something on live TV last night. I forgot to point out that weight gain during lockdown isn’t a cause for shame, alarm, weighing or panic. I forgot to point out that some kids are growing normally. Here it is
https://www.mailplus.co.uk/tv/good-health/18961/what-has-covid-done-to-our-sex-lives-from-couples-who-cant-stand-each-other-to-singletons-hitting-the-dating-scene-we-investigate

Eating Disorders & Covid 19

Posted on by ncfed

The Phipps Family have circulated this opinion piece about eating disorders during isolating times.

Do YOU think that it is harder or easier to live with eating distress when you are isolated at home with your family?

What ELSE can you tell us about your eating disorder thinking right now.
Here is what some people might be thinking. What can you do to help them; if you have these thoughts, how can you soothe yourself

“If there is a shortage of food in the shops then I’m not worthy to eat any of the food within the family/to take food from the shops which people like nurses and doctors need more than I do.”

“If I can’t get the food that I need then I won’t be able to eat anything, so I won’t eat!”

“With you all at home, I can’t do my secret exercise routine as there is no space to do this. How am I supposed to manage?”

“How can I make you understand that the alternative you have offered is not an alternative in my mind?”

“How, if I can’t get out and run my normal 15km each day am I going to be able to eat my second snack?!”

“If the gym is closed and I can’t do my normal work-out then I haven’t earnt the right to eat so I can’t.”

“Having you at home means I can’t skip my meals.”

“How can I cope with eating if with everyone at home I can’t then secretly purge?”

“There are too many people at home now everyone has come back home to be together because of the virus. There is no way I can eat with so many pairs of eyes on me, everyone will be judging me”

“I’m sure that all my peers are doing more exercise than I am as ‘Judith’ has a treadmill at home and ‘Daniel’ keeps posting videos of using his rowing machine. I’m so fat and lazy”

“I’m different to other people so it doesn’t matter if I go out, I’ll be fine. What’s more important is that I get out for all my runs”

The Phipps family says: We know that this is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to challenges you and your loved ones will be facing in your homes, possibly even as you read this message, but help is already in your hands; remember to take that step back and breathe.

They suggest: Try to be as calm as you can; show your loved one you understand and then try to walk calmly alongside your loved one, to ease the pain. This will not only ease your loved one’s pain but it can help ease yours too because you know you will have done the best you can in the difficult situation we all find ourselves in.

Eating Disorders Awareness Week: Useful?

Posted on by ncfed

Eating Disorder Awareness Week. Time To Go.

It is about to hit us. Or did it come and go? Whatever, I think it is time to be stopped. Years ago, no one knew anything about eating disorders.  No one understood and knew how to recognise the signs and symptoms in either themselves or other people. This is no longer true.

I agree that people with eating disorders are stigmatised. ED awareness hasn’t changed that. In fact, I fear that ED awareness week normalises eating disorders and can make them “cooler”. Even doctors regard people with bulimia as young and silly; They regard anorexia as a vanity illness suffered by wilful and irrational people. The public still regards compulsive eaters as weak. The new rash of articles about men with eating disorders is helping to bring sufferers into treatment but these articles don’t change the general image of people with eating disorders as being mentally ill. Parents want to keep their children away from someone with an eating disorder in case of infection. You wouldn’t want to ask them home for tea.

Well-meaning people in their hundreds go into schools to teach Health and Education studies about eating disorders. We KNOW that this is not a useful way to do prevention. It does little to change the incidence of problems. In some cases makes the situation worse by sensitising vulnerable girls and boys about issues of food and weight.

Eating disorder activists don’t like to read this; but I publish the evidence in good faith. I know what kind of prevention doesn’t work. Many times I have tried to persuade a former ED sufferer not to go into schools to warn about the dangers of self-starvation or purging. If you tell someone not to do something, chances are they will.

When people with eating disorders get to an investigative journalist, they are portrayed in sensationalist ways. Does this help? Or does it enhance a sense of disgust and revulsion among onlookers.  You even get a chance to hear about purging in 3D.  Let’s face it, the symptoms of an eating disorder are unpleasant; people do terrible, unbelievable things to themselves because of their apparent fears of fatness.

People respond to this with fear and disgust rather than compassion.

I really get cross about eating disorder charities that run Marathons to raise eating disorder awareness. It’s one more excuse for sufferers to burn calories to remain thin. Why not do some good in local communities like pick up the trash or clean the beaches?

And, I’m worried about fetishism of eating distress. I wonder why we don’t have Depression Awareness Week, or Borderline Personality Disorder Awareness week? Self-harm awareness week? There are enough mental illnesses these days to occupy our thoughts every day.

What is this going to do to people who aren’t suffering from a mental health disorder? Feel left out?

Let’s have an informed debate about what it is helpful to communicate – such as who is really qualified to help people with eating disorders; or, how to help schools develop an eating disorder policy to protect the healthy as well as the ill.  Or how to encourage young people to ask for help if they are unhappy – that usually goes before an eating disorder sets in.

I’m game for a reasonable discussion about this – contact admin@ncfed,com  or reply on our Facebook page if you disagree.