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Eating Disorders - How Therapy can help
Anorexia Nervosa
Eating disorders are a mental illness that can affect your entire being. In therapy, I wouldn't ask to weigh you*. You are a unique person, who is the expert of your life, counselling would be looking at all of you, not just your eating. Therapy can help explore: (A few examples listed) what your symptoms mean to you, how they affect you and how they affect your relationships with other people. the beliefs, values and feelings that you have about yourself your relationships with other people and how they affect your eating behaviour. helping you to take what you have learned into everyday life. ask about your feelings, thoughts and behaviours. listen to the concerns that your family or carers have about your eating behaviour.
There are many different eating disorders. Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa, Binge Eating Disorder and ‘Other Specified Feeding and Eating Disorders’.
Anorexia Nervosa
May look like behaviours Such as counting the calories in food excessively, avoiding food you think is unsafe and eat only 'safe' foods. • Being secretive. • Over exercising and get upset if something stops you from exercising.• Becoming socially isolated. • Feel weak and have less muscle strength. • Difficulty concentrating.• Dizzy spells. • Constipation, bloating and stomach pain . • Setting high standards and being a perfectionist. • Sleeping problems. • Getting irritable and moody. • In girls and women periods can stop, become irregular or may be delayed in starting.
Bulimia Nervosa
Bulimia Nervosa - You may eat a lot of food in one sitting and then feel you must compensate in fear of weight gain. This may mean other people may not notice you are having these patterns of behaviour, you could also feel you need to lose weight.
Behavioural symptoms/Physical signs • Feel guilty or ashamed after eating a 'large amount of food' and compensating for it • Spending a lot of time thinking about food.• Not able to control your eating.• Have a distorted view of your body shape or weight. • Have mood swings.• Secretive about your behaviours.• Feel anxious and tense.• Can be associated with depression, low self-esteem, alcohol misuse and self-harm.• Disappearing soon after eating.• Calluses on the back of your hand.• Stomach pain, bloating and constipation.• Gastric problems.• Being tired and not having energy.• In girls and women - periods stop or are not regular.• Frequent weight changes.
Binge Eating Disorder (BED)
Binge eating disorder (BED) - You may eat a lot of food in a short period of time on a regular basis if you have BED. As with bulimia, you won’t feel in control of your eating. It is likely to cause you distress. You may feel disconnected and struggle to remember what you have eaten. Behavioural symptoms/Physical signs • Eat faster than normal during a binge.• Eat when you’re not hungry and until you feel uncomfortably full.• Eat alone or secretly.• Have feelings of guilt, shame or disgust after binge eating.• Low self-esteem and depression and anxiety.• You may feel you are overweight for your height • Tiredness and difficulty sleeping.• Constipation and bloating. Other eating disorders and eating problems.
What causes eating disorders?
We do not know exactly why someone develops an eating disorder. Some people believe that eating disorders develop because of social pressures to be thin. Social pressures could be social media and fashion magazines. Others believe it is a way to feel in control. Most specialists believe that eating disorders develop because of a mix of psychological, environmental and genetic factors. Psychological factors could be: being vulnerable to depression and anxiety, finding stress hard to handle, worrying a lot about the future, being a perfectionist, controlling your emotions, having obsessive or compulsive feelings, or a fear of being fat. Environmental factors could be: pressure at school, bullying, abuse ,criticised for your body shape or eating habits, having difficult family relationships, or having a job or hobby where being thin is seen as ideal. Such as dancing or athletics. Genetic factors could be: changes in the brain or hormone levels, or family history of eating disorders, depression or substance misuse.