Eating Disorders

This page is to support anyone who is affected by an eating disorder, or anyone caring for someone with an eating disorder. 

What are Eating Disorders?

Eating disorders are serious mental illnesses affecting people of all ages, genders, ethnicities and backgrounds. People with eating disorders use disordered eating behaviour as a way to cope with difficult situations or feelings. This behaviour 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.

There is hope – full recovery is entirely possible with the right support

It’s important to remember that eating disorders are not all about food itself, but about feelings. The way the person treats food may make them feel more able to cope, or may make them feel in control, though they might not be aware of the purpose this behaviour is serving. An eating disorder is never the fault of the person experiencing it, and anyone who has an eating disorder deserves fast, compassionate support to help them get better.

What Causes Eating Disorders?

Eating disorders are complex – there is no single reason why someone develops an eating disorder. A whole range of different factors, including someone’s genetics, biology, psychology and surroundings, can combine to make it more likely any one person develops the condition.

We don’t yet know everything about what causes an eating disorder, or what treatments will work for everyone, but we do know there are effective treatments available. There is world-class research going on, much of it in the UK and involving work across the globe. The latest research is showing us that eating disorders have much more to do with biology than was previously thought.

Types of Eating Disorder include:

• Anorexia Nervosa
• ARFID
• Binge Eating Disorder
• Bulimia Nervosa
• Orthorexia
• OSFED
• Pica
• Rumination Disorder

How to Get Help

The first port of call when looking for help is your GP. It is an incredibly brave thing to speak out and ask for support, and if it’s something you’re anxious about, you can speak to local charity helplines (listed below) about your worries. You could also talk to a friend, a family member, or someone at school, university or work. You could ask them to visit the GP with you if you are worried about going on your own. You can read more about telling someone you have an eating disorder here.

Your GP (and sometimes other members of the primary care team, like your practice nurse) will play an important part in this first step of identifying your eating disorder. If your GP suspects you have an eating disorder, they should refer you immediately for further assessment or treatment by a specialist eating disorder service. The NICE guidelines for eating disorders, which are based on the best available evidence and which your doctor should take into account while making decisions about your treatment, is very clear that immediate referral is the best course of action. Beat’s First Steps leaflet, which you can download, will give you guidance on getting a referral.

You can also get more information from the Northern Ireland Regional Care Pathway for the Treatment of Eating Disorders.

Get Inspired

Helplines

Other Helpful Resources

Links 

• BEAT - POD - Peer Support and Online Development for Carers -  Beat's online carer community designed to provide people supporting someone with an eating disorder with a space to learn, share experiences and find support. (Web Page)
• BEAT - Training for Parents and Carers (Web Page)
• Eating Disorder Association NI - Binge Eating, Breaking the Cycle, A self-help guide towards recovery. (PDF Download)
• Eating Disorder Association NI - Approaching Someone with an eating disorder, If you are thinking of approaching a person about an eating disorder, the most important step you can take to support that person is to accept them as they are now (PDF Download)
• Eating Disorders: We hope that this booklet will help parents to understand what an eating disorder is, how it develops and is maintained in an individual, and how a parent can support their child in moving towards recovery.  (PDF Download)
• NAADAC - Binge Eating Workbook is designed to provide people with binge eating disorder helpful tools they can use to gain control of their eating behaviour. (PDF Download)
• Building Body Acceptance - What Keeps Body Dysmorphic Disorder Going? A workbook that will help you consider how those past experiences may be affecting you in the present, and explore what is keeping your BDD going now. (PDF Download)
• More coming soon... Have you any suggestions? If so, let us know by Joining the Conversation at the bottom of this page!

Videos

• Eating Disorders Awareness Week: Together we can beat eating disorders - 1.25 million people in the UK are living with an eating disorder right now. Yet behind every one is a network of friends and family supporting them. In this video, Steph Blackwell and her mum Jane talk about Steph's experience with an eating disorder and Jane perspective supporting her daughter.
• YouMightKnowMe v2 - Beat discuss an often-misunderstood illness that 1 in 50 of us will experience in our lifetime, binge eating disorder.
• Eating Disorders Awareness Week: Finding your support network - Steph Blackwell and her mum Jane talk about their experience reaching out to Beat for support.
• Beat social media guide - A guide to social media. A partnership animation created by Beat eating disorders and Loughborough University.
• Beat talks eating disorders and Hollyoaks with Ijaz Rana. - This interview with actor Ijaz Rana discusses the collaboration and preparation that went into accurately portraying eating disorders in men on television.
• Freddie Flintoff reveals the eating disorder he has kept secret for over 20 years - BBC - Freddie reveals how bulimia has played a part in the course of his life. He discusses his experience in visceral detail and meets specialists and young men with eating disorders across the UK. Together they challenge, with incredible honesty and humility, some of the stereotypes that men and boys in their position face – that is, suffering with a serious mental health condition that is perceived to be something ‘only girls get’ – and finally give a public voice to a much-misunderstood illness.
• Melanie C's Eating Disorder “People In The Band Reached Out But I Was Too Embarrassed" | GLAMOUR UK - Melanie C opens up on how she overcame her eating disorder and her depression at the peak of her Spice Girls fame in the latest episode of GLAMOUR UNFILTERED hosted by Josh Smith.
• Anorexia Nervosa | What Patients and Family Should Know | Let's Talk Mental Health - Talking about Mental Health is often seen as taboo carrying many social stigmas. This shouldn't be the case. In this video, JHP Medical UK look at anorexia and answer common questions.
• Bulimia Nervosa | What Patients and Family Should Know | Let's Talk Mental Health - Talking about Mental Health is often seen as taboo carrying many social stigmas. This shouldn't be the case. In this video, JHP Medical UK look at bulimia and answer common questions.
• What it means to have an eating disorder - This animation has been created to look at what it means to have an eating disorder, the thoughts and feelings people may have and how it affects them socially.
• Consider Eating Disorders in Men - This video shares the often unheard experiences of men with eating disorders going to their GP practice to seek help
• Binge Eating Disorder: Recovery Begins With Compassion | Stanford - In this video, Dr. Rachel Goldstein discusses binge eating disorder and what to do if you think you may be suffering from this condition. She explains what binge eating disorder is and how to begin your recovery journey, including the first step: being compassionate to yourself and knowing that you are worth the effort. 
• Avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID) Signs & Symptoms - Learn about the signs and symptoms of avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID), a little-known and often misunderstood eating disorder. 
• Niamh’s Story: A Sibling’s Perspective – Bodywhys animation - Bodywhys Eating Disorders Association of Ireland created this animation to give a sense of what a sibling can experience when a family member has an eating disorder.
• Eating disorders: Kate's Dad - A father's perspective - Bodywhys Eating Disorders Association of Ireland created this animation to give you a sense of what a parent can experience when their son or daughter is affected by an eating disorder.
• Harriet Parsons: advice to carers on externalising the eating disorder - Harriet Parsons gives advice on dissociating the eating disorder from the person experiencing it to reduce the personal blame they may feel.
• More coming soon... Have you any suggestions? If so, let us know by Joining the Conversation at the bottom of this page!

Books

• Intuitive Eating, 4th Edition: A Revolutionary Anti-Diet Approach, by Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch - The authors, both prominent health professionals in the field of nutrition and eating disorders, urge readers to embrace the goal of developing body positivity and reconnecting with one’s internal wisdom about eating—to unlearn everything they were taught about calorie-counting and other aspects of diet culture and to learn about the harm of weight stigma.
• Beating Your Eating Disorder: A Cognitive Behavioural Self-Help Guide for Adult Sufferers and their Carers, by Glen Waller, Victoria Mountford, Rachel Lawson, Emma Gray, Helen Cordery and Hendrik Hinrichsen  - A self-help guide to help adults with anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa in their recovery, and to teach skills to carers based upon cognitive behavioural therapy.
• Getting Better Bite by Bite: A Survival Kit for Sufferers of Bulimia Nervosa and Binge Eating Disorders, by Ulrike Schmidt, Janet Treasure and June Alexander - An evidence-based self-help programme designed to support people with bulimia nervosa and binge eating disorder.
• The Compassionate Mind Approach to Beating Overeating Using Compassion Focused Therapy, Ken Goss - A self-help book to support people in beating overeating using compassion focused therapy.
• Overcoming Anorexia Nervosa 2nd Edition: A self-help guide using cognitive behavioural techniques, by Patricia Graham and Christopher Freeman - A self-help book to support people in overcoming anorexia nervosa through the use of cognitive behavioural techniques.
• The Picky Eater's Recovery Book: Overcoming Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder  by Jennifer J. Thomas - Are you a picky eater? Do you worry that food will make you vomit or choke? Do you find eating to be a chore? If yes, this book is for you! Your struggles could be caused by Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID); a disorder characterized by eating a limited variety or volume of food. You may have been told that you eat like a child, but ARFID affects people right across the lifespan, and this book is the first specifically written to support adults.
• Conquer Picky Eating for Teens and Adults: Activities and Strategies for Selective Eaters by Jenny McGlothlin MS,SLP and Katja Rowell MD - It’s never too late to make peace with food. Are you tired of eating the same 15 foods, ordering off the kids’ menu, or feeling anxious or embarrassed about what you eat? You are not alone, and it can get better. Written by a speech pathologist specializing in feeding and a family doctor specializing in relational feeding, this workbook shares tips and strategies to help you get unstuck. It’s a no-pressure, how-to guide filled with ideas and activities to explore at your own pace.
• Overcoming Binge Eating 2nd Edition: The Proven Program to Learn Why You Binge and How You Can Stop, by Christopher Fairburn - Presents information about binge eating disorder and factors that often maintain this, followed by an evidence-based self-help programme to help people to overcome binge eating disorder.
• For Parents/Carers -
• Anorexia and other Eating Disorders: how to help your child eat well and be well: Practical solutions, compassionate communication tools and emotional support for parents of children and teenagers by Eva Musby - Written by the mother of someone diagnosed with anorexia nervosa, following their experiences of evidence-based treatment. Offers practical advice for managing mealtimes, information about helpful things/ unhelpful things to say, and advice on developing one’s own emotional resources. Chapters of the book and other helpful resources can also be found online at anorexiafamily.com.
• Help Your Teenager Beat an Eating Disorder (2nd edition) by James Lock and Daniel Le Grange - Presents evidence that parents often play a key role in their child’s recovery, and offers practical advice and support around this.
• ARFID Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder: A Guide for Parents and Carers by Rachel Bryant Waugh - Provides practical tips and strategies to help equip carers of someone affected by ARFID.

• Decoding Anorexia by Carrie Arnold - Explains anorexia nervosa from a biological perspective, which can be helpful for carers who wish to know more about the science behind their loved one’s behaviours. These scientific descriptions are paired with personal narratives and examples.

• ED Says U Said: Eating Disorder Translator by June Alexander and Cate Sangster  -Describes the internal dialogue that people with eating disorders often experience, and provides interpretations for what the eating disorder may hear based upon what has been said to the person.

• Food Refusal and Avoidant Eating in Children, including those with Autism Spectrum Conditions: A Practical Guide for Parents and Professionals by Gillian Harris and Elizabeth Shea  -Provides support and understanding around Avoidant or Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID).

• Survive FBT: Skills Manual for Parents Undertaking Family Based Treatment (FBT) for Child and Adolescent Anorexia Nervosa  by Maria Ganci - Provides practical advice to empower parents undertaking family based treatment with their child.
• Food Refusal and Avoidant Eating in Children, including those with Autism Spectrum Conditions: A Practical Guide for Parents and Professionals by Gillian Harris and Elizabeth Shea - Provides support and understanding around Avoidant or Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID).
• More coming soon... Have you any suggestions? If so, let us know by Joining the Conversation at the bottom of this page!

Find Help Near You - Eating Disorders

There are support agencies in Northern Ireland who specialise in providing support to people impacted by an eating disorder, these are listed below. Remember that a number of services can help those with an eating disorders too, such as counselling or therapy for example. Please remember that you are not alone and that there is help available. 

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