Eating Disorders

Eating disorders are serious mental health conditions that affect a person’s relationship with food, weight, and body image.
They can harm both mental and physical health, but recovery is possible with the right support.

In the UK, help is available through the NHS and specialist services.

They are not a “choice” or “phase” — they are illnesses that deserve care.

• Restricting food
   
• Intense fear of weight gain
   
• Seeing oneself as “overweight” even when underweight
   

• Binge eating followed by purging (vomiting, laxatives, over-exercise)
   
• Strong guilt and shame about eating
   

• Repeated episodes of overeating
   
• Feeling out of control
   
• No regular purging
   

• Very limited eating due to fear, sensory issues, or lack of interest
   
• Not focused on weight or shape
   

• Serious eating problems that don’t fit neatly into one category
   

Eating disorders affect thoughts, emotions, body, and behaviour.

✅ Obsessive thoughts about food or weight
✅ Fear of eating
✅ Low self-esteem
✅ Perfectionism
✅ Guilt after meals
✅ Body dissatisfaction

✅ Weight changes
✅ Dizziness
✅ Tiredness
✅ Hair loss
✅ Feeling cold
✅ Stomach problems
✅ Missed periods

✅ Skipping meals
✅ Eating in secret
✅ Avoiding eating with others
✅ Excessive exercise
✅ Checking body/weight often
✅ Purging behaviours

Even if weight looks “normal,” an eating disorder can still be very serious.
 

Eating disorders usually develop from many factors together:

🧬 Family history
😞 Trauma or bullying
📱 Social/media pressure
🧠 Low self-esteem
😴 Stress and anxiety
🤍 Need for control
🍽️ Dieting history

They are not caused by laziness or vanity.

Recovery works best with specialist support.

• CBT for eating disorders
   
• Family-based therapy
   
• Counselling
   

• Dietitian support
   
• Regular meal plans
   
• Rebuilding trust with food
   

• Monitoring physical health
   
• Medication (if needed)
   

• Structured meals
   
• Gentle routines
   
• Reducing isolation
   
• Support from family/friends
   

Early treatment = better recovery.

Try this once a day:

Before eating, say to yourself:

“This food is helping my body heal.
I deserve nourishment.”
 

Eat slowly. Breathe. Be kind to yourself.

Small steps matter.

Get help immediately if someone:

❗ Is fainting or collapsing
❗ Is severely underweight
❗ Is vomiting frequently
❗ Has chest pain or heart problems
❗ Is refusing most food
❗ Has suicidal thoughts

In the UK:
📞 Call 999 (emergency)
📞 Call 111 (urgent advice)

Your life is more important than any number on a scale.

💙 You are not your eating disorder.
💙 You deserve food, care, and peace.
💙 Recovery is possible.
💙 You are worthy — exactly as you are.