Managing an eating disorder

Your circumstances, feelings, and symptoms may be very different from what you’ve seen or read about, but that doesn’t mean you can’t have an eating disorder. The way eating disorders present themselves can be hugely varied from person to person. This means eating disorders can be difficult to identify, and often those suffering can appear healthy despite being unwell. If you think you might be having problems with your eating or feel that difficult feelings or situations are making you change your eating habits or feel differently about food, you could have an eating disorder or be developing one.

“I was dwarfed by everything. Starving myself also starved my anxiety; it made me numb and that made me able to cope – being dull to everything made things easier to handle”

Dave Chawner, 2018. Weight Expectations. One Man’s Recovery from Anorexia

Maybe you don't want to tell anyone, because you feel your eating disorder isn’t serious enough. You don’t want to worry people or waste their time. You might feel guilty, embarrassed or ashamed. Whether your eating difficulties began recently, you’ve been struggling for a while, or you were treated for an eating disorder in the past that you think might be coming back, you deserve to have your concerns acknowledged respectfully. You deserve to be taken seriously and to be supported in the same way as if you were affected by any other illness.

Telling someone your worries about the eating disorder and about recovery can be daunting.

Before you talk to someone, you could prepare by writing down what you want to say. It might be helpful to think about:

• The thoughts and feelings affecting your eating.
• How long the eating difficulties have been going on.
• What the person you’re talking to could do to support you in getting appropriate help.

If a chat in person works for you, that’s great! If it doesn’t, you could write what you want to say and read it aloud, send the person an email, phone them, speak to them using text or online messaging. Each way of starting the discussion has its pros and cons – it’s about what feels comfortable for you and how you think you’ll have the most productive conversation.

It’s normal to feel scared at the idea of telling someone about your eating disorder.

It’s very important to find treatment as early as possible. Earlier treatment means a greater chance of fully recovering from your eating disorder. Your first point of contact in the health care system is likely to be your general practitioner (GP). If you have never spoken to a healthcare professional, a GP will be responsible for your initial diagnosis and should help to coordinate your care, at least in the early stages of treatment. If they determine you may have an eating disorder, they should refer you to an eating disorders specialist.

If you are moving to a new area and you have been living with an eating disorder and receiving treatment it is important not to delay having your care transferred. It is important you allow yourself time to contact your local services to ensure your treatment isn’t delayed.

Eating disorder seeking treatment guide

Beat, the national eating disorder charity, has lots of information that you may find useful if you think you or someone you know has an eating disorder and as you start thinking about getting help:

Visit the Beat website

Think about what kind of things help you to feel better when you’re;

• Bored,
• Lonely,
• Angry,
• Stressed or
• Tired

then when you feel the urge to use behaviours, you can try to identify the emotions that might be causing it and look for positive distractions from that feeling.

Read the full BLAST approach