Homepage > Health > Mind > Eating Disorders
- What is an eating disorder?
- About eating disorders
- Types of eating disorders
- What are the symptoms?
- Help lines
First, ask yourself what does the term eating disorder mean to you? Think about it for a minute........
Did your answer centre around:
- food
- weight
- dieting
- appearance to the degree that a person's heath, relationships and daily activities are affected
If so, then you understand something about the symptoms of an eating disorder. But if that's all you're thinking about, you may be unaware of the underlying causes of this disease.
Problems with food develop as a way of coping with
- emotional pain
- separation
- low confidence or self esteem
- depression
- stress or trauma
There is usually no single cause of eating disorders and they are often a response to a combination of different feelings or pressures including:
- Abuse
- Breaking up with your partner
- Bullying
- Coping with death
- Domestic violence
- Family relationships
- Friendship problems
- Stress
- Lack of confidence
Anorexia – Sufferers reduce the amount of food they eat due to a fear of gaining weight and often go without food for a few days.
Bulimia – Sufferers often eat large quantities of food quickly and then try to get rid of the food they have eaten by making themselves sick.
Binge eating – Not all eating disorders involve losing weight. Bingeing on food during the day and eating when you are not actually hungry can cause people to gain large amounts of weight which is not good for your health.
- restricting food intake
- binge-eating (excessive eating of junk food)
- bingeing and purging (excessive eating and then making yourself sick)
- overeating
- excessive exercise
B-eat Youthline (the UK's leading eating disorder charity) – 0845 634 7650 fyp@b-eat.co.uk or click here for 1-1 chat
Connexions Direct - 080 800 13 2 19, by text on 07766 4 13 2 19, by textphone 08000 968 336
Eating Disorder Association
The EDA has lots of online information about eating disorders, a message board where you can ask questions and details of helplines and websites you can contact.
The National Centre for Eating Disorders
This site has an online assessment facility, a useful self-help section and an online questions section. There is a charge for information on this site but the self-help section is free.
Eating Disorder Scheme
The Eating Disorder scheme offers telephone support, counselling, self-help groups and complementary therapies.
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