Eating disorders are serious mental illnesses affecting people of all ages, genders, ethnicities and backgrounds.
People with eating disorders use disordered eating behaviour, which can include limiting the amount of food eaten, eating very large quantities of food at once, getting rid of food eaten through unhealthy means (e.g. making themselves sick, misusing laxatives, fasting, or excessive exercise), or a combination of these behaviours.
It is understood that they are caused by a combination of biological, psychological and social factors.
Types of disordered eating
Anorexia Nervosa
Anorexia can cause individuals to limit how much they eat or drink.
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Avoidant restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID)
A condition characterised by the person avoiding certain foods or types of food, having restricted intake in terms of overall amount eaten, or both.
Binge Eating Disorder (BED)
BED is when people eat very large quantities of food without feeling like they’re in control of what they’re doing.
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Bulimia Nervosa
Bulimia is when someone is caught in a cycle of eating large quantities of food, and then trying to compensate for that overeating by vomiting, taking laxatives or diuretics, fasting, or exercising excessively.
Orthorexia
An unhealthy obsession with eating “pure” food. It is not currently recognised in a clinical setting as a separate eating disorder, although the term may be brought up when discussing someone’s illness.
Other specified feeding or eating disorder (OSFED)
Sometimes a person’s symptoms don’t exactly fit the expected symptoms for any of these eating disorders, so they might be diagnosed with OSFED.
Pica
This is when someone eats non-food substances that have no nutritional value, such as paper, soap, paint, chalk, or ice.
Rumination Disorder
This involves repetitive, habitual bringing up of food that might be partly digested.
T1DE
Type 1 Diabetes and disordered eating is an eating disorder in people with type 1 diabetes.
What causes an eating disorder?
Eating disorders, including anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, binge-eating disorder (BED) and other specified feeding or eating disorders (OSFED), are responsible for more loss of life than any other mental health condition.
Professionals don't fully understand what gives rise to these painful and confounding illnesses. Eating disorders likely emerge from a complex relationship between genetics, personality traits, and environmental influences such as childhood experiences, social comparison, stressful or traumatic events, and cultural beauty standards.​
Research suggests that:
Between 1.25 and 3.4 million people in the UK are affected by an eating disorder - around 25% of those affected by an eating disorder are male
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Most eating disorders develop during adolescence, although there are cases of eating disorders developing in children as young as 6 and in adults in their 70s
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Eating disorders are most common in people between the ages of 16 and 40 years old
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Around 10% of people affected by an eating disorder suffer from anorexia nervosa​ and the average age of onset for anorexia nervosa is 16 to 17 years old
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40% of people affected by an eating disorder suffer from bulimia nervosa​ and the average age of onset for bulimia nervosa is 18 to 19 years old
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The rest of sufferers fall into the BED or OSFED categories of eating disorders
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That people who have family members with eating disorders are more likely to develop eating disorders themselves when compared to people who have no family history of these illnesses
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Anorexia nervosa has the highest mortality rate of any psychiatric disorder in adolescence
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The earlier someone gets eating disorder treatment, the better their chance of recovery!​​​​​
Signs you may have an eating disorder
For many individuals with eating disorders, here are some of the more commonly experienced signs and behaviors:
1. Adopting Ritualistic Eating Habits and Rules
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2. Refusing to Eat With Others
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3. Struggling to Engage with Food in Healthy Ways
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4. Exercising Excessively to Burn Calories
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5. Obsessing Over Physical Characteristics
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6. Hoarding and Stashing Food
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7. Lowered Self-Esteem
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8. Physical Symptoms
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Treatments for eating disorders include therapy, education and medication.
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Finding the right type of eating disorder treatment depends on the disorder and its symptoms. It usually includes a mix of specific types of talk therapy, as well as medical monitoring and sometimes nutrition education or medicines.
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Eating disorder treatment also involves taking care of other medical problems that an eating disorder causes or makes worse. These problems can be serious or even life-threatening if they go without being treated for too long. If an eating disorder doesn't get better with standard treatment or causes health problems, a stay in a hospital or another type of inpatient program may be needed.​
How can this workshop support someone with an eating disorder?
Talking therapy is the most important part of eating disorder treatment, and ordinarily therapy may last from a few months to years. It can help you:
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Make your eating patterns better and help you reach a healthy weight.
Replace habits that aren't healthy with healthy ones.
Create problem-solving skills.
Find healthy ways to cope with stress.
Make your relationships better.
Make your mood better.
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Our workshop can function as a starting point for your recovery, a safe and non-judgmental environment for you to open up about your struggles with food and your body, and offer professional and guidance on the next steps.
"You might face uncomfortable decisions when breaking cycles of maladaptive thoughts and behaviours. Recovering from an eating disorder may be difficult; some people take longer than others to commit to the process. However, don't give up on yourself; remind yourself that what you're experiencing is not your fault. You can make a change by choosing your future."
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