Understanding Eating Disorders

Introduction

When you hear the words ‘eating disorder’, it can bring to mind a number of contrasting thoughts. You may remember a newspaper story about a teenager who starved herself to death. There may have been pictures of someone looking like a walking skeleton. An eating disorder may then appear to be a mysterious condition that is striking down children and teenagers at the threshold of promising lives. On the other hand, talk of eating disorders may conjure up stories of glamorous celebrities who have admitted to suffering from anorexia nervosa or bulimia. Then the conditions may have been portrayed in the press as a slimming regime that went too far, or as a foolish fad of the rich and famous, who are obsessed with their appearance.

You may not know what to think. In fact, neither of these two examples gives a true picture of eating disorders. In this country there are tens of thousands of people who have these disorders. Most are not famous or glamorous. A very few may die from the conditions but very many will feel stuck and trapped by them. Eating disorders are real illnesses. They lead to real misery and suffering. They deserve to be taken seriously.

The possibility or the reality of an eating disorder is something that may well arise for anyone, either in themselves or in someone close to them. So if you suspect that someone you care about might have an eating disorder, what should you do and how can you best help? Should you be out of your mind with worry if your daughter goes on a diet? Should you tell a friend not to be silly when she says that she is feeling fat and unattractive? Could making too much fuss make matters worse? And what if you find yourself getting overly concerned about your weight and preoccupied with food?

This book aims to describe and explain eating disorders. It will discuss the causes and effects of these conditions. Hopefully, it will help you take a better informed and more sensible view should ques­tions like these arise for you. I have said that eating disorders should be taken seriously but they are not a reason for panic. Effective treat­ment is available. Help can be obtained from family doctors, from specialist hospital clinics and from eating disorder organisations and self-help groups. Most of those who have an eating disorder recover safely, with or without treatment, even though they may have spent months and years battling with their condition.

KEY POINTS

• Many people suffer from eating disorders

• Eating disorders are rarely fatal illnesses

• Eating disorders can cause real misery and suffering

• Most people who have an eating disorder recover safely