Eating Disorders
What is it?
Teenagers are under pressure to look good, to fit in and are not helped by constant pictures of celebrities looking good in the media spotlight.
It is normal to worry about how you look and most of your friends will be doing the same as you!
However eating disorders don’t just happen because you’re worrying about fitting in and being liked better because you’re thin – they happen sometimes because of other upsetting things in your life – like being bullied, parents divorcing, death of someone close to you. Sometimes it can develop from extreme dieting, and sometimes it can develop because it’s the only thing you can control in your life. It can affect boys as well as girls.
This is when things can go seriously wrong for you when worrying about your weight becomes an obsession.
Types of eating disorders
Anorexia
This is when you restrict your food intake dramatically to lose weight quickly and generally hide it from everyone around you. You become good at tricking everyone into believing that you still eat the same amount. You worry all the time about being fat even when you are severely underweight and its like your brain refusing to see what everyone around you sees. Your periods will stop (if you’re a girl!) and you can damage your body in the process.
Bulimia
This is when again you worry all the time about being fat and either eat nothing or too much and then make yourself sick to get rid of the calories you have just eaten. Or you eat loads and then take laxatives (medicine which makes you poo!) to get rid of the calories that way.
Possible symptoms
Here are some examples of what might be happening if you have an eating disorder or if you think someone you know has an eating disorder
• Rapid weight loss
• Missing meals, hiding food or food going ‘missing’ from cupboards
• Going to the bathroom immediately after eating
• Being obsessed with everyone else’s eating habits
• Discovering lots of food wrappers hidden away somewhere in the house/school
• Still thinking you’re fat when you’re so obviously not
• Getting mad at people when they ask you about your eating pattern
• Feeling sad or anxious about what is happening
• Doing exercises all the times that you can
What can you do about it?
Did you know that the best way to lose weight is just to eat more healthily and take regular exercise – sounds simple – but you will need support and help to do this either from your family, School Nurse or Doctor.
If you feel that you may be worrying too much about your weight and looking for quick fixes it is always a good idea to talk to someone that you can trust.
If it has become a serious issue for you or someone you know then you need to get specialist help from someone who knows what to do. Your Doctor can help and refer you to someone.
It is treatable but can have lasting effects on the body if left to go on too long – damage to the bones, risk of not being able to have children in the future and rotten teeth due to constantly being eroded by stomach acid when being sick.
Some celebrities have battled with an eating disorder like Nicole Richie, Keira Knightly, Jessica Alba and men like Adam Ricketts (from Coronation Street), Matthew Perry (from Friends) and Gok Wan and they have come through the other side.
Other things you can do
• Be kind to yourself
• Talk to friends and family
• Try and write up how you are feeling in a diary or in poems
• Listen to music that makes you feel good not worse
• Get out in the fresh air for a walk or some physical exercise
• There are people who you can phone even 24 hours a day –see below for contacts
• Try and eat regularly and not just junk
• Go and see your Doctor if things don’t get any better – you may need counselling or alternative treatment
Who else can help?
There are lots of ways to get help – choices around talking with people, accessing support and finding out more about eating disorders
Talk to someone you can trust – they will want to help you – you’ll be surprised!
Sources of further information:
www.rcpsych.ac.uk
www.colchesteryes.org
www.youngminds.org.uk Tel:0207 336 8445 9.30-5.30
www.connexions-direct.com Tel: 080 800 13 2 19
www.childline.org.uk Tel: 0800 1111 24 hours a day
www.readthesigns.org
www.samaritans.org Tel: 08457 90 90 90
