Five things you should know about Eating Disorders

By Melanie Cormack, Psychologist

Many people struggle with the hidden issue of disordered eating.  It has been an issue throughout history, but today, we are beginning to understand the causes and treatments much better.  An eating disorder causes painful emotions such as shame, guilt and feeling out of control.  Here, we explain the main features of eating disorders and the first step in getting help, if you choose to do so.

Eating Disorders – What are they?

Eating Disorders are illnesses where people experience severe disturbances in eating behaviours and related thoughts and emotions.  People with an eating disorder will often become preoccupied with food and their body weight which may include eating too much or too little.  It is a mental health condition that negatively impacts on health, emotional wellbeing and a person’s ability to function in important areas of life.   The most common eating disorders are anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa and binge-eating disorder.

Causes

There’s no one issue that leads to an eating disorder, and it’s important to remember that nobody is to blame for an eating disorder. Eating disorders affect a diverse range of the population.  Currently one million people in Australia are living with an eating disorder.  You may even know someone with an eating disorder, but may not be aware that they have it because people usually try to hide it from those around them.  Eating disorders affect any age, gender, cultural backgrounds and can occur at any stage of life.

The exact cause of eating disorders is unknown. As with other mental illnesses, there may be many causes, such as genetics and biology.  A person may have genes that increase their risk of developing an eating disorder. Biological factors, such as changes in brain chemicals, may play a role in eating disorders, and other factors include coexisting mental health disorders such as an anxiety disorder, depression or obsessive-compulsive disorder may also play a role.  Other psychological problems such as perfectionism, impulsive behaviour and low self-worth may also contribute to the disorder.  

Complications

Eating disorders cause a wide variety of complications, some of them life-threatening. The more severe or long lasting the eating disorder, the more likely you are to experience serious complications such as: health problems, depression and anxiety, suicidal thoughts or behaviours, social and relationship problems and even death.  

Types of eating disorders

The most common eating disorders are: 

• Anorexia Nervosa – trying to control your weight by not eating enough food, exercising too much, or doing both

• Bulimia – losing control over how much you eat and then taking drastic action to not put on weight 

• Binge Eating Disorder – eating large portions of food until you feel uncomfortably full.  There is often an out of control feeling that occurs when eating.  There are many other types and often people cycle through different types of eating disorders and do not fit into one type.

• Avoidant/Restrictive food intake Disorder (ARFID) - a recently defined eating disorder that involves a disturbance in eating resulting in persistent failure to meet nutritional needs and extreme picky eating. 

Getting help for an eating disorder

If you think you may have an eating disorder, a good place to start is to see your GP or give our team at Excel Psychology a call for support and assistance. It can be very hard to ask for help and we would be happy to chat with you to answer any questions you may have.   

Seeing a psychologist will give you an opportunity to think deeply about your concerns, to learn specific strategies to better manage your situation, and / or to learn to see your situation from a new, more helpful perspective. Usually, you will be taught skills to practice between sessions, so that you begin to make changes in your life outside of the sessions. 

At Excel Psychology we use a range of evidence–based therapies to support those with an eating disorder, and with treatment, you can return to healthier eating habits and sometimes reverse serious complications caused by the eating disorder. Please don’t hesitate to contact Excel Psychology if you’re in need of support. We’re here to help.