Eating Disorders
What are Eating Disorders?
There are different difficulties you may have with eating, you might have an episode where you struggle with food due to current stresses that lasts for a short period of time. However, if these difficulties persist and increase in severity and your relationship with food negatively impacts on your daily life and physical health, this is called an eating disorder. There are different types of eating disorders, the most common are Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa, Binge Eating Disorder and Avoidant and Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID).
This describes persistent restricted eating, which can lead to significantly low body weight compared to what is average for your age, gender and physical health. You might have an intense fear of gaining weight and you might try to do different things to prevent this. This could look like restricting your food intake or finding ways to get food you have eaten out of your body. You might have a distorted view of own body weight or shape, seeing yourself differently to how others see you. Anorexia nervosa can often convince you that you are not unwell, even when others are concerned about you.
Bulimia describes recurrent episodes of binge eating, where large amounts of food are eaten over a short time, with feelings of being out of control and unable to stop. This is followed by feelings of guilt, causing you to find ways to get the food you have eaten out of your body- this can be referred to as purging and will often result in a binge- purge cycle.
You might become preoccupied with your body shape and weight and find that you are binging and purging in secret to hide this from those around you.
Bingeing often looks similar to bulimia, as it involves eating large amounts of food over a short period of time, but this happens without the purging afterwards. During a binge, you may feel out of control and unable to stop eating. You may feel compelled to eat really quickly, even if you are not hungry, and to keep going until you are uncomfortably full. There are often feelings of shame and guilt involved in binge eating and you might eat in secret to avoid feeling judged.
ARFID is a little different to the other eating disorders as it is not based around weight loss or controlling food intake. Instead, a person with ARFID might experience a lack of interest in eating or avoid eating food due to sensory issues or a fear of choking. You might have a small selection of food which feel safe for you and therefore tend to only eat these foods. Due to limiting the different types of food eaten, you might experience weight loss or develop a nutritional deficiency which can lead to physical health problems.
Eating difficulties affect people of all genders, ages, races and backgrounds. While these difficulties appear to be about food and weight they can actually develop due to a complex set of reasons:
- ‘Ideal’ images from society and the media. We are inundated with images about the ideal body shape, and this can lead you to have unrealistic expectations of how you should look. Dove Soap run a series of campaigns promoting positive body image and redefining beauty. Check out this video Keep Beauty Real
- Over valuation of your weight and shape. You might consider your weight and size to be the most important thing about you, and think that other people will value or respect you based predominately on this.
- Low self-esteem and lack of confidence – People with eating difficulties often don’t feel very good about themselves generally, and you might tend to focus on one small area of your life, such as weight and shape, as a way of boosting some sense of self-esteem.
- Trauma – traumatic events may affect your self-esteem and make you feel as if things are out of your control.
- Controlling stress, change or difficult feelings – You might start to control food and eating because it gives you a sense of taking charge when many other things in life feel out of control
- Perfectionism and unrealistic expectations – You might set yourself very high standards to achieve. These can include high standards about how much to eat, what weight to be and what shape to be. You might also have very set rules about daily activities and about staying in control of your emotions and not showing how you feel.
- Family expectations and attitudes to each other – Sometimes, if your family worries a lot about you and likes to be very protective, you might not learn to be independent and that you can take charge of your life yourself. Focusing on controlling your weight or eating can be a way of feeling a sense of achievement at something.
- Neurodiversity – Research increasingly shows a link between eating difficulties and neurodivergence. For example, if you are autistic, you might use rules and routines around food and exercise as a way of managing the challenges of daily life; you might also experience sensory issues around tastes and textures which could lead to a more restrictive diet. Furthermore, if you have ADHD, you might struggle controlling impulses around food.
- Other mental health conditions, for example anxiety or OCD may increase your likelihood of developing eating difficulties.
- Eating difficulties can have a significant effect on both your physical and mental health.
You might experience mental health difficulties such as depression, mood swings, anxiety and irritability. You might struggle with low self-esteem and poor body image, and you might find you become more withdrawn and have increased tiredness and sleep problems, struggle with poor concentration and memory loss.
Physical symptoms of an eating disorder can range from symptoms that might not be immediately obvious, to severe. You might experience changes in your body, for example dry skin, loss of skin colour, thinning or brittle hair and nails. This is due to nutrition deficiency. If you engage in activities often associated with eating disorders you may also experience tooth decay, bloating or swelling, and irregular or loss of periods. You may also develop issues with your heart and digestive system.
It is important to note that you may experience only very few, or none of the above symptoms but still have difficulties with your relationship with food that is impacting your life negatively. This is why, no matter what your symptoms are, if you’re struggling you’re worthy of support.
Related to Eating Disorders
Advice to help me
It is important to get specialist help as soon as possible if you think you, or someone you know, may be suffering from an eating difficulty. You can do this by speaking to your GP, School nurse or teacher, or contacting your local Community Eating Disorder service (CEDS). Studies suggest that the sooner you seek help the better.
Talking about your eating difficulty for the first time might seem a daunting task, and you might need to prepare yourself before you do this. This useful website by BEAT has information to help prepare you to go to your GP. Here is also a useful leaflet to help you and your GP work together and refer you for the right specialist support.
If your eating disorder is severe, your weight is very low, you are losing weight quickly or are vomiting frequently, it is vitally important that you seek medical advice as soon as possible.
Who can help me?
Accessing support in your local area, or on-line, may be useful if you are experiencing mental health difficulties that are having mild or moderate impact on your daily life . Based on your symptoms, age and where you live, the support below might be useful for you:
Thrive hubs can help you understand your options.
Our service is designed to advise, guide, signpost and get help for young people within Manchester currently facing mental health and emotional wellbeing issues.
Learn more about Thrive HubsFor young people looking for emotional wellbeing support, this website offers a range of information and services, including counselling, psycho-social support, and cognitive behavioural therapy.
An on-line resource with lots of advice and information for young people.
CAMHS Services
A referral to a CAMHS service might be useful if you are experiencing mental health difficulties that are having a significant impact on your daily life. Based on your age, symptoms and where you live, the following services might be appropriate for you:
We are an NHS service that offers support and treatment to children and young people up to 18 years old who are experiencing challenges with their mental health and wellbeing. We also support parents, carers, and families of these children and young people
The Community Eating Disorder Service (CEDS) is a specialist CAMHS community team (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service), for children and young people aged 5 – 17 who may be presenting with an eating disorder or eating disorder difficulties. We provide specialist evidence-based therapeutic interventions to young people and their families, through a range of treatments, as well as physical health monitoring.
We are a specialist Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) working with deaf children and their families. We cover the North of England and have teams in York, Manchester and Newcastle.
Galaxy House helps young people with a range of mental health difficulties including eating disorders and medically unexplained symptoms, as well as managing associated behaviours such as self-harm. Admission lengths vary depending on the young person’s needs and their care pathway. We work closely with families and community agencies to enable young people to be discharged from hospital at an appropriate time in their recovery. In addition to its 12 beds (all single rooms with 2 en-suite) Galaxy House has living, dining, therapy and outdoor space. It also has its own school provided across 2 classrooms within the building, which provides National Curriculum education from 9.30am to 3.15pm each weekday by staff from Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital School. Referrals may be for consultation, second opinion or for consideration of admission.
The Manchester CAMHS team for Looked After Children is a CAMHS team for children and young people cared for by Manchester City Council.
We are an NHS service that offers support and treatment to children and young people up to 18 years old who are experiencing challenges with their mental health and wellbeing. We also support parents, carers, and families of these children and young people.
We are an NHS service that offers support and treatment to children and young people up to 18 years old who are experiencing challenges with their mental health and wellbeing. We also support parents, carers, and families of these children and young people.
We are an NHS service that offers support and treatment to children and young people up to 18 years old who are experiencing challenges with their mental health and wellbeing. We also support parents, carers, and families of these children and young people.
We are an NHS service that offers support and treatment to children and young people up to 18 years old who are experiencing challenges with their mental health and wellbeing. We also support parents, carers, and families of these children and young people.