Treatment for eating disorders

This article was written in collaboration with Jenup, a non-profit organisation specialising in the early intervention and prevention of eating disorders and body image issues within young people.

The hardest part of treating an eating disorder is admitting you need help in the first place. So if you’re reading this, well done. You’ve taken the first, most challenging, step towards a healthier, happier you.

Going to your GP about an eating disorder

We know it’s scary, but going to your GP is the first point of call, as they can refer you to the services you need.

What will happen at the appointment?

Initially, it’s just a chat about your eating habits and worries. They will want to weigh you and possibly take a blood test so they can monitor your overall health. Once they have the test results and have heard your symptoms, they may diagnose an eating disorder. They should suggest some kind of therapy, counselling or other emotional support to help you with how you’re feeling.

I’m scared about going to the doctor

It’s normal to find it daunting, but there are a few things you can do to make it easier.

• Book a double appointment so you have enough time to say everything you want to without feeling rushed
• Write down what you want to say. That way, if you forget something, you’ve got it there to prompt you

Being referred to a psychiatrist or counselling

Your doctor may decide to refer you for psychiatric help, counselling or to see a dietician or nurse to help with food and your weight. If you’re under 18, they may refer you to CAMHS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services). This is nothing to be ashamed of – your illness isn’t anything you can help, and these are the best people to help you recover.

What will the treatment be like?

Talking therapies are the most common and effective treatments. Professionals explore your thoughts and feelings with you and help you deal with any negative patterns in order to adapt your way of thinking and take back control of your thoughts.

These sessions can take the form of either counselling, CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy), psychotherapy or even family therapy.

Talking treatments may sound intense and a bit scary but they’re super effective. Try and reach out for treatment as early as you can with your eating disorder as the earlier you start treatment, the more likely you are to achieve a positive outcome.

What is an eating disorder specialist?

You may also be referred for dietary and nutrition advice but it’s important to remember that this isn’t the main focus of treatment. Registered dieticians and other professionals who take part in your treatment can help you learn more about your eating disorder and create a plan to regain and maintain healthy eating habits.

Goals of nutrition education may be to:

• Working towards a healthy weight.
• Understanding how much energy your body needs to function daily
• The side effects of dietary chaos on blood sugar levels and mood
• Practice meal planning
• Setting regular eating patterns
• Taking steps not to diet or binge
• Correct health problems due to poor nutrition e.g. digestive issues including constipation and bloating

Can you get sectioned for having an eating disorder?

Most people willingly go to hospital if it’s recommended by a doctor. Sectioning someone is very serious and often only used in an emergency situation where you’re considered a real danger to yourself or others.

If your eating behaviour is a considerable risk to your health, and you won’t become an inpatient voluntarily, your health team can ask for you to be sectioned. However, this is very rare so don’t let it put you off seeking help.

What happens in hospital if you have an eating disorder?

Receiving treatment in hospital for an eating disorder is very rare and will only happen if you’re at risk of serious deterioration. If the doctor does not feel therapy or counselling alone will help you, you may be referred to a specialist setting. This could be a hospital, an eating disorder unit or a mental health unit. You’ll be given an individual care plan.

Day patients

You mostly won’t need to stay overnight and will visit the hospital during the day. While you’re there you’ll have supported meals, sessions of therapy and group activities.

Usually it takes between three to six months of treatment as a day patient before you’ll be ready to be an out-patient. If your eating gets worse in hospital, you may be asked to become an inpatient.

Inpatients

You’ll stay overnight and receive intensive treatment that includes supported snacks and meals, nutrition classes, art and music therapies and regular therapy sessions.

You’ll be allowed visitors at certain times and can personalise your room by bringing in stuff from home. If you’re still at school and college (and feel well enough to work) homework can be sent to you so you can keep up with your studies.

My name is Rachel Elder. I am an English Literature student at the University of Edinburgh and a Young Ambassador for The Mix, most recently involved in The Body and Soul Club.

Eating disorders are complex mental illnesses that affect people at any weight and any stage of life. They isolate people and try to strip them of their true identity, whilst causing serious physical complications. Eating Disorder Awareness Week is a chance for the millions of people affected by eating disorders to share their stories and raise awareness.

Life with an eating disorder

One thing that makes eating disorders so challenging to live with is the sense of comfort and security derived from them. The illness becomes a safety blanket; a coping mechanism that allows you to deal with or numb unwanted and challenging emotions. With this perspective we can understand why people use disordered eating as a coping strategy.

When I first developed my eating disorder it took months for anyone to convince me that I had a problem, and even after overcoming this first hurdle I came to the next obstacle of figuring out this foreign concept of ‘recovery’. For years I backed out of attempts at recovery, refused treatment, dabbled with ‘quasi’ recovery, all before deciding that I couldn’t face it.

The reality of recovery

The reality had hit me that despite the fact that my eating disorder took so much away from my life, the initial stages of recovery were even more terrifying than the illness itself. Each time I began to nourish my body I would be confronted by a surge of anger, upset and fear – emotions that my eating disorder suppressed.

I spent a long time switching from different sets of disordered eating behaviours in an attempt to recover without really giving up full control, before I finally realised that there was no easy way out. You have to throw yourself into the deep end regardless of how ‘ready’ you might feel.

In those initial days, weeks, or even months of recovery it may feel as though you are drowning amongst the flood of emotions and discomfort you feel. Your body screams at you to get out of the water and go running back to the safety of your disorder. But only in sticking it out, in accepting help and pushing through the extreme initial discomfort can you start to see the possibility of recovery.

Recovery idealism

The glamorised portrayals of recovery that we often see online are incredibly unrealistic. We see snapshots of a person’s life as they jump from one extreme of an illness to a perfect, full and healthy lifestyle within a few photos. Unhelpful ‘before and after’ comparisons portray recovery as an overnight process and limit the definition of recovery to weight restoration alone.

We don’t see the breakdowns over weigh-ins or family meals or that one slice of toast. We don’t see the mental suffering and slow emotional growth. The psychological restoration is just as important as the physical, and the physical restoration is not always just about weight gain.

Taking the leap

Eating disorders are incredibly difficult to deal with, and recovery can often feel impossible, but once you push past those initial stages of fear you start to realise that the possibility of recovery isn’t as far off as it initially seemed. You realise that your eating disorder takes up too much space in your life to allow room for anything else. That there is a possibility of a much brighter future that feels truly worthwhile.

Yes, leaving your eating disorder behind can feel terrifying, but the thought of living with it the rest of your life will always be scarier.