MHAP_Southampton_23_05

Eating Disorders
An eating disorder is when a person’s relationship
with food becomes abnormal, forcing them to change
their eating habits and behaviours. It can involve
eating too much or too little, or becoming obsessed
with your weight and body shape. It can take over
your life and make you ill. Men and women of any age
can get an eating disorder, but they most commonly
affect young women aged 13 to 17 years old.
Eating problems can disrupt how a person eats
food and absorbs nutrients, which affects physical
health, but can also be detrimental both emotionally
and socially. Eating disorders often occur alongside
other mental health conditions, such as anxiety,
depression, panic disorder, obsessive-compulsive
disorder and substance misuse disorders.
Types of eating disorders
Anorexia Nervosa – keeping your weight as low
as possible by restricted food intake and/or
excessive exercise
Bulimia Nervosa – binge eating followed
by deliberate purging (deliberately sick, use
laxatives) to restrict what you eat, or do too much
exercise to try to stop yourself gaining weight
Binge Eating Disorder (BED) – episodes of
overeating in a short space of time until you
feel uncomfortably full, and are then often
upset or guilty
Other Specified Feeding or Eating Disorder
(OSFED) - when your symptoms don’t exactly
match those of anorexia, bulimia or binge
eating disorder.
Symptoms of eating
disorders include:
dramatic weight loss /spending a lot of time
worrying about your weight and body shape
avoiding socialising when you think food will
be involved
eating very little food / eating a lot of food very
fast / cutting food into small pieces or eating
very slowly
deliberately making yourself sick or taking
laxatives after you eat
wearing loose or baggy clothes to hide
weight loss
exercising excessively or obsessively exercising
lying about how much and when they’ve eaten,
or how much they weigh
having very strict habits or routines around food
changes in your mood
You may also notice physical signs including
feeling cold, tired or dizzy, problems with your
digestion, your weight being very high or very
low for someone of your age and height and not
getting your period for women and girls.
What causes eating disorders?
There is no single reason why someone may
develop an eating disorder - it can be the result
of a combination of genetic, psychological,
environmental, social and biological factors.
Getting help for an
eating disorder
If you think you may have an eating disorder, even
if you aren’t sure, see your GP as soon as you can.
They’ll ask you questions about your eating habits
and how you’re feeling, and will check your overall
health and weight. If they think you may have an
eating disorder, they should refer you to an eating
disorder specialist or team of specialists.
You can also talk in confidence to an adviser from
eating disorders charity Beat by calling their adult
helpline on 0808 801 0677 or youth helpline on
0808 801 0711.
Treatment for eating disorders
While they can be very serious mental health
conditions they are also treatable and, although
it may take a long time, full recovery is possible.
Treatment normally consists of monitoring
a person’s physical health while addressing
the underlying psychological problems with
psychological therapy such as cognitive behavioural
therapy (CBT) or family therapy. Medication such as
a type of antidepressant may also be used.
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