What is an eating disorder?

Eating disorders are serious mental illnesses that can affect young people, children and adults of all ages, genders and ethnicities. They most commonly develop in adolescence but can also occur in children as young as 7 and in older adults. In the UK alone there is thought to be around 725,000 people struggling with eating disorders.

Everyone has different eating habits. Some days you may eat more than others or go through phases of eating more healthily but this doesn’t mean you have an eating disorder. An eating disorder is an illness not a diet.

When people have an eating disorder this begins to dominate their whole life, and impacts on their school/ work/ social and family life. Often people who develop an eating problem are struggling with difficult feelings or stressful events in their lives and the eating disorder can begin as a way of coping with these or regaining a sense of control. Thoughts about food, calories and body weight can take over, and are often accompanied by feelings of fear, anxiety, guilt and shame. People can start to become isolated from friends and stop enjoying things they used to do, they might avoid eating in front of people or become panicky around food, and they may make themselves sick or want to exercise immediately after eating. They may also experience low self-esteem and self- worth, negative thoughts, low mood, self -harm and difficulty coping with life.

People can be affected by one or more type of eating disorder or find their symptoms changing as they recover. Someone with an eating disorder may also experience other mental or physical health issues at the same time as their eating disorder. Sometimes these can play a role in the eating disorder developing, or they may develop alongside or because of the eating disorder.

Types of eating disorders:

  • Anorexia /Anorexia Nervosa is when someone tries to loose/keep their weight as low as possible by restricting the amount of food they eat and exercise excessively.
  • Bulimia is when someone loses control and has episodes of eating a lot of food in a short period of time (binge eating) and then force themselves to be sick, use laxatives, restrict what they eat or exercise excessively to try and not gain weight.
  • A Binge Eating Disorder is when someone regularly loses control of what their eating. This involves eating large portions/ eating until feeling uncomfortably full then feeling upset or guilty afterwards.
  • EDNOS (Eating Disorder Not Otherwise Specified) is when someone has symptoms of an eating disorder but they don’t exactly match the criteria of any of the above. This doesn’t mean their illness is any less serious though.
  • ARFID (Avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder). It is more common among children with ASC and is characterised by:
    • Highly restricted diet; avoidance of certain foods based e.g. upon their colour or texture
    • High anxiety about food and eating accompanied by aversive thoughts –such as fear of choking or being sick
    • Lack of interest in food
    • Loss of weight, failure to thrive and experiencing range of physical consequences of not eating adequate diet.

What causes eating problems?

There is no one single reason why someone develops an eating disorder. A whole range of factors combine, including genetic, psychological, environmental and social influences and interpersonal and relationship difficulties that increase the likelihood that someone develops an eating disorder.

How do I know if someone has an eating disorder?

Signs of an eating disorders can vary depending on the type of eating disorder you have but here are a few things to look out for:

  • Saying they have already eaten/ eaten more than they have
  • Not being truthful about how much weight they’ve lost
  • Counting Calories in food excessively
  • Eating low calorie food
  • Missing Meals
  • Avoiding eating with other people
  • Hiding food
  • Eating very slow
  • Getting food into tiny pieces to make it seem like they have eaten more than they have
  • Excessive exercising
  • Social withdrawal and isolation
  • Comprise of education and employment plans
  • Comparing how they look with others
  • Disappearing soon after eating (in order to purge)
  • Irritability/mood swings

What helps?

Eating disorders claim more lives than any other mental illness and should always be taken very seriously. However, they are treatable conditions and the sooner someone gets the support and treatment they need the more likely they are to make a full recovery. Making an appointment with your GP is a critical first step, especially if you’ve lost a lot of weight. They’ll be able to help you get specialist help and get on the road to recovery.

How can I help myself/others?

  • Find someone who’s going through a similar experience. Having someone to relate to will help you or others open up about what your feeling/experiencing and may reduce any anxiety around getting help.
  • Try not to judge yourself or others
  • Don’t put pressure on yourself or others to change their eating habits or put weight on. Professional support will most likely be needed to do this.
  • People may not be able recognise or want to admit that they have a problem with eating. The important thing is to listen and give them the time and space to talk about things they are struggling with. It might help to ask what they’re going through or if there are things they are worried about.
  • Try to chat about general things or compliment your friend on their personality and avoid talking about their appearance or weight.
  • It can be helpful to keep including them, inviting them out and encouraging them to do things you both enjoy, or spending time at home of they aren’t up to going out. If you they turn down your invitations, remember this is probably part of the illness and let them know you will still be there for them when they do want to talk or hang out. Just knowing you are there can be a great support.

You could also contact the B-eat Youthline, Kooth or Childline for confidential support, B-eat is a national charity supporting anyone affected by eating disorders.

If you are really concerned about someone or they have lost a lot of weight then tell an adult you trust, eating disorders can be very serious and sometimes we need to break trust/confidentiality in order to protect people from harm, and it’s important to get some support for yourself.

See B-EAT UK for more information about spotting the signs of an eating disorder and accessing help.

CAMHS Access Team

Who are they?

The CAMHS access team is the first point of contact for requests for help and where all referrals are triaged and allocated to the most appropriate service. The key philosophy is to ensure that the child or young person gets the right help at the right time and in the right place.

What services do they provide?

  • Referral triaging

When are they open?

9am – 5pm, Monday to Friday (excluding Bank Holidays)

Where?

New County Hall Treyew Road, Truro TR1 3AY Cornwall

How do I refer?

Cornwall CAMHS take referrals from any source, including parents or self-referrals. There is a referral form that is sent to a central multi-agency Hub based in County Hall in Truro. Each referral is carefully screened by a CAMHS clinician.

For more information visit: cornwall.gov.uk/earlyhelp or call: 01872 322277

Who can be referred?

Children and young people who are aged pre-birth to 18. If a young person has a special educational need or disability, who have a need for early help care and support, this is extended up to age 25.

Xenzone

Who are they?

XenZone is an organisation that provides Face to Face and online mental health services for children, young people and adults. Kooth, from XenZone, is a free online counselling and emotional well-being platform for children and young people, accessible through mobile, tablet and desktop.

What Mental Health conditions do they support?

Anxiety, Stress, Identity, Sexuality, Health, Relationships, Eating Disorders (no restriction to this currently).

What services do they provide?

  • Face to Face & Online Counselling
  • Online Mentoring
  • IPT-A Counselling
  • CBT Counselling
  • A range of psychotherapeutic practices and methods (each dependent on the associate)

When are they open?

Their Online services are available Monday-Friday 12pm-10pm and Saturday-Sunday 4pm-10pm.

Their face to face services are arranged between Monday – Friday by the individual and counsellor.

Where?

Their Face to Face team arranges visits in schools, local outreach and community venues dependent on the individual they are supporting.

How do I refer?

Via email [email protected] or phone for face to Face support but email is always recommended. You, a family member or professional can make a referral to the service.

For online services you can create an account and log on to the website to access information and support.

Who can be referred?

Children and young people up to the age of 19 (up to the eve of 20th Birthday) experiencing Mental Health difficulties.

Community CAMHS Teams

Who are they?

The Community CAMHS Teams.

What Mental Health conditions do they support?

  • Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
  • Tic Disorder
  • Depression
  • Anxiety
  • Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
  • Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
  • Complex Trauma
  • Psychosis
  • Manic Disorder
  • Anorexia
  • Bulimia
  • Self-Harm
  • Mental Health Crisis
  • Conduct Disorder
  • Personality Disorder

What services do they provide?

Children and young people who have completed an assessment with the service and meet the criteria can be offered intervention and/or specialist assessment within one of our care pathways by the Community CAMHS teams. These mainly describe the process of care within getting help although for some needs they extend into getting more help or describe the offer of advice and support from getting advice services.

When are they open?

9am – 5pm, Monday to Friday (excluding Bank Holidays)

Where?

West (Kerrier): The Hive, Kernow Building, Wilson Way, Pool, TR15 3QE

West (Penwith): Bolitho House, Laregan Hill, Penzance, TR18 4NY

Mid (Restormal): Shaw House, Porthpean Road, St Austell, PL26 6AD

Mid (Carrick): Truro Health Park, Infirmary Hill, Truro, TR1 2JA

East (North East/ Bodmin): Launceston Integrated CAMHS and Children's Centre, Coronation Park, Launceston, PL15 9DQ

East (South East): 6A Heathlands Business Park, Liskeard, PL14 4DH

How do I refer?

Cornwall CAMHS take referrals from any source, including parents or self-referrals. There is a referral form that is sent to a central multi-agency Hub based in County Hall in Truro. Each referral is carefully screened by a CAMHS clinician.

For more information visit: cornwall.gov.uk/earlyhelp or call:

West (Kerrier): 01209 204000

West (Penwith): 01736 571070

Mid (Restormal): 01726 873292

Mid (Carrick): 01872 221446

East (North East/ Bodmin): 01566 761100

East (South East): 01579 373850

Who can be referred?

They accept referrals for children and young people up to the age of 18 years. This includes those with a learning disability and/or neuro–developmental disability who are registered with a GP based within Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly.

A referral that doesn’t meet the threshold for a specialist intervention, but the child has a moderate level of impairment can be allocated to the Primary Mental Health Team (PMHT). These workers are specialists in early interventions in mental health and will offer consultation and advice. They have some limited capacity to offer some solution focussed interventions.

Community CAMHS Teams

Who are they?

CYPEDS is a specialist service offering community-based treatment for people under the age of 18 with a suspected or diagnosed eating disorder.

What Mental Health conditions do they support?

They are commissioned to treat individuals with anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa and other specified feeding or eating disorders (OSFED).

What services do they provide?

  • specialist community-based treatment

When are they open?

9am – 5pm, Monday to Friday (excluding Bank Holidays)

Where?

County-wide

How do I refer?

Cornwall CAMHS take referrals from any source, including parents or self-referrals. There is a referral form that is sent to a central multi-agency Hub based in County Hall in Truro. Each referral is carefully screened by a CAMHS clinician.

For more information visit: cornwall.gov.uk/earlyhelp or call:01579 373850

Who can be referred?

They accept referrals for children and young people up to the age of 18 years. This includes those with a learning disability and/or neuro–developmental disability who are registered with a GP based within Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly.

A referral that doesn’t meet the threshold for a specialist intervention, but the child has a moderate level of impairment can be allocated to the Primary Mental Health Team (PMHT). These workers are specialists in early interventions in mental health and will offer consultation and advice. They have some limited capacity to offer some solution focussed interventions.

Myth buster #1

Myth: Only girls can have eating disorders

Fact: People of all genders, ethnicities and backgrounds can develop an eating disorder. In fact 25% of people with eating disorders are male.

Myth buster #2

Myth: Eating disorders are just a phase young people will grow out of.

Fact: Eating disorders are serious mental health illnesses that are unlikely to get better without specialist treatment. Eating disorders claim more lives than any other mental illness and should be taken very seriously. However it is possible to make a full recovery with the right support and many people go on to full and happy lives.

Myth buster #3

Myth: Eating disorders are caused by seeing skinny, unrealistic and glamorous pictures of celebrities and fashion models online in the media.

Fact: All young people are exposed to these images and most do not develop an eating disorder. Eating disorders are complex and there is no one direct cause.

Useful resources

B-EAT UK

Find more information, support and helplines

Youth Health Talk

Hear personal experiences and stories from other young people

Need help now?

If you need to speak to someone urgently call your GP or family doctor!

or

NHS 24/7 helpline : 0800 038 5300
Childline up to 19 yrs: 0800 1111
The Samaritans: 116 123
In an emergency go to A&E or call 999