Eating disorders

Eating disorder (BSL) | Eating disorder (audio) | Eating disorders (Easy Read)

Eating disorders are serious mental health conditions. A person with an eating disorder will regularly eat too much or too little. They'll also spend a lot of time thinking about food, their weight or their body shape.

The effect on health, wellbeing and relationships can be significant. It can reach into your day to day activities too.

There are different types of eating and feeding disorders, including:

• anorexia nervosa (AN)
• avoidant restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID)
• binge eating disorder (BED)
• bulimia nervosa (BN)
• other specific feeding and eating disorders (OSFED)

Around 1.25 million people in the UK are estimated to have an eating disorder.

Eating disorders can affect people of all ages, genders, cultures, ethnicities and backgrounds. With treatment, most people can experience an improved quality of life.

They often first show up in childhood or adolescence, and they can affect the young person as well as their family members or carers.

Read more about how to support someone with an eating disorder

An eating disorder can show itself in several ways. You may notice some of these:

• spending a lot of time worrying about your weight, body shape and food
• avoiding socialising if it involves food
• eating very little, or a large quantity of food
• feeling that your eating is out of control
• making yourself sick or taking laxatives after you eat
• exercising too much
• having very strict habits or routines around food
• changes in your mood, like being withdrawn, anxious or depressed
• difficulty concentrating on day to day activities like work or study

Your relationships with those closest to you can also be affected.

You might also have physical symptoms, such as:

• feeling dizzy, tired or cold
• pains, tingling or numbness in your arms and legs, because of poor circulation
• feeling your heart racing, fainting or feeling faint
• bloating, constipation or diarrhoea due to problems with your digestion
• your weight being low or high for someone your age and height
• not getting your period or delayed signs of puberty

It can be hard to tell when someone you love has an eating disorder. There are some warning signs you can watch for, such as:

• weight loss or weight gain over a few months
• not realising, or not believing, that their eating behaviour is becoming unusual
• eating a lot of food very fast, or food going missing
• going to the bathroom a lot after eating
• talking critically about their body
• over-exercising
• avoiding mealtimes with others
• cutting food into small pieces or eating very slowly
• wearing loose or baggy clothes

Someone with an eating disorder may also have:

• anxiety
• autism spectrum disorder (ASD)
• attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
• complex trauma
• personality disorders
• depression
• obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD)
• mental health conditions during pregnancy and after the birth
• post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
• psychotic conditions including schizophrenia and bipolar disorder
• substance misuse
• alcohol misuse
• type 1 diabetes
• other physical illnesses, particularly those where symptoms and signs affect body weight or where treatment might affect body weight such as Cystic Fibrosis, underactive thyroid, overactive thyroid or inflammatory bowel disease

Peace Pathway has information and resources for autistic people with an eating disorder.

If you have any other health conditions, it's important to talk to your doctor about them so they can assess how they could affect your treatment.

Some conditions involve food and eating but have nothing to do with worries about weight or body shape. One of these is avoidant restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID). With ARFID, a person avoids certain foods or types of food, eats very little, or does both.

You can learn more about ARFID on the Beat website.

Many people blame eating disorders on the social pressure to be thin, but the causes are usually more complex than that. There are lots of possible reasons why a person might develop an eating disorder, and they are different for everybody.

The causes can be psychological, environmental and biological.

An eating disorder can have a major impact on your life. It can affect your relationships, your job, your schoolwork and your physical health.

With any eating disorder, the first step is to recognise that there's a problem and be willing to seek help.

If you're worried that you have an eating disorder, see a doctor as soon as you can.

It can be very hard to admit that you have a problem and ask for help. Many people feel scared about it, but it's important to get help as soon as possible. It might help to bring a friend or loved one with you to your appointment.

Your loved one might not know they have an eating disorder. They may deny it, or avoid talking about their eating or their weight, because it's such a painful and stressful subject for them.

Let them know you're worried about them, and encourage them to see a doctor. You could even offer to go with them.

Read more about supporting someone with an eating disorder

There's a lot of information and advice available for parents and carers, including:

• Beat: What to do if you're worried about a friend or family member
• Beat: What to do if you're worried about a colleague
• Supported: I care for someone with an eating disorder
• FEAST: Info for parents

Treating an eating disorder usually means keeping an eye on your physical health and supporting your mental health at the same time.

The type of treatment depends on:

• the person involved
• what type of eating disorder they have

For some people, self-help or guided self-help can work well. If guided self-help isn't suitable, or wouldn't be enough on its own, psychological therapy is a common choice. This can be one-to-one, in a group or as a family. Specialist dietitians may also be part of your treatment, and your physical health may be monitored to support your recovery.

For some people, medicine prescribed alongside psychological treatment can help. Medicine alone isn't usually effective for eating disorders.

The SIGN clinical guidelines on treating an eating disorder were written for Scotland.