Eating disorders: know the signs
Eating disorders can be tricky to manage at the best of times. However, recent changes to day-to-day life have amplified the difficulties for many who struggle with eating disorders. This is reflected in demand for the Helpline service run by BEAT, the UK’s eating disorder charity, increasing by 97% in the past six months compared to the same period last year.
Lockdown has been a struggle for us all, but for those with eating disorders, feelings of isolation, uncertainty and a lack of control and structure can manifest in dangerous coping strategies.
At least, this has been my experience and those of several other wonderful people I am currently living with in an inpatient ward. I am not yet ready to share my story as it is very personal and I am still going through recovery. However, I feel a strong need to speak up about what I see as an ominous tragedy unfolding before our blind eyes, and it will not quieten down unless we shed a light on the battles that many of us have been facing during lockdown, and bring about change.
A cut back in face-to-face programmes has made it very hard for people with mental health difficulties to access support, and added to the stress on what were already underfunded, understaffed and overstretched inpatient services. Also, with many people with eating disorders further isolating themselves, not knowing how to reach out, or even realising that they have a problem until it is too late, I worry that many will slip through the net.
This should be sounding alarm bells, as eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of any mental illness.
I therefore feel that it has never been more important for us to learn the signs of an eating disorder. Do you know what to look out for?
Eating disorders can hit anyone, of any gender, race, sexuality, religion, age or other social category. If you think yourself or someone you know may have an eating disorder, I encourage you to check out BEAT’s website or get in touch with them. They can provide you with guidance on how to get support and/or care for someone with an eating disorder.
If you are struggling with an eating disorder, keep fighting for the support you need. It may be a long and hard slog, but you are entitled to a life better than this - if you can think these words about someone else, you can think them about yourself; you can and you will recover.
I am incredibly lucky to be receiving inpatient care right now, but at the same time, I wish I didn't have to think of it as a luxury.
As lockdown begins to ease, I am hopeful that more people will be able to receive the treatment they need. However, the core issues still remain. The passion and drive from staff is here, and it is outstanding. Yet, services are undermined by insufficient resources. Funding for eating disorder services needs to be increased and become more sustainable. In society, we need to build the conversation around eating disorders, breakdown the stereotypes and consider how societal changes could impact on one's vulnerability - yes, tackling obesity is important, but do we really need to put calorie counts on restaurant menus? Issues surrounding obesity and eating disorders are one and the same; you cannot and should not tackle one without the other. You can read more about this here.
I have focused this blog on the impact of lockdown on eating disorder services, as these are the services I have had the most involvement with over lockdown. Although I am sure that similar disruptions have been experienced in mental health services across the board, and are just as important to address, I feel that the impact of lockdown on eating disorders has largely evaded conversation. This is a dangerous game to play. I wonder whether this lack of discussion is due to the stigma that remains around eating disorders as a "dieter's disease" and a "women's issue", when they are so, so much more pervasive and complex than this. We need to tackle the stigma and know the signs to look out for. Forgive me, but I needed to talk about this.
Too many times, people with eating disorders, such as myself, have had to get far worse before they could get better. Yet it does not need to be this way. It all starts with learning the signs and simply asking, “are you ok?”, “do you want to talk?”.
H_M
:)
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