Teachers

When I surveyed 800 young people about their experiences of eating disorders in UK schools, only 20% said that their school felt like a safe and supportive environment for someone suffering from an eating disorder. There were several reasons for this but the number one reason was teasing, rumours and bullying.

And not just from their peers. From the staff as well.

“You might as well go around with ‘freak’ written on your head. Everyone treats you like one. Even if they’re not being horrible then they’re freezing you out ‘cos they don’t know what to say.”

Kelly, Year 9

“My maths teacher joked about me being fat. Now I’m better I can tell it was a joke, back then I was skin and bones but I took him seriously and ate even less that day. Everyone made ‘jokes’ like that the whole time but it’s not funny.”

Michael, Year 11 Read the rest of this entry »

Well the first thing to point out is that it’s not all about trying to be as skinny as the models in Vogue. Oh no, there’s a whole heap more to it than that. Those skinny models don’t help and they give sufferers some might slim standards to aspire to but there are a whole host of reasons why people suffer from eating disorders – the best way to help you to understand is to share the words of sufferers themselves.

Control

“Everything was going wrong. My family was falling apart, I was getting in trouble at school, my life felt like a great big mess and it felt like food was the only thing I could control. So I did.”

Punishment

“I hated myself so much and constantly felt a need to be punished for not being perfect at school, for being a bad daughter, for not being popular enough. I used to love food so depriving myself of it felt like a good punishment.”

Read the rest of this entry »

However you feel, take the news calmly

The most difficult way to hear the news of an eating disorder, is directly from the sufferer themselves. Perhaps they’ve been secretly making themselves sick for months and you didn’t have the slightest clue. As they confess what they’ve been up to, as their teacher, friend or parent you might feel disgusted, angry, frustrated or any one of a number of other emotions. Please try not to let those emotions show. If you possibly can, try to take the news calmly and openly. You have no idea how hard it was to make this disclosure and a negative reaction is likely to completely shake their confidence and more or less instantly break down the trusting relationship you’ve built up.

Don’t talk, listen

Listening is the very best thing you can possibly do right now. If a sufferer has come to you it’s because they trust you and feel a need to share their secret with someone. Just let them talk. Ask occasional questions if you need to in order to encourage them to keep exploring their feelings and opening up to you. Just letting them pour out what they’re thinking will make a huge difference and marks a huge first step in recovery. Up until now they may not have admitted even to themselves that they have a problem.

Try to understand, even if it’s hard

The concept of an eating disorder can seem completely alien if you’ve never suffered from one. You may find yourself wondering why on earth someone would do these things to themselves, but don’t explore those feelings with the sufferer. Instead listen hard to what they’re saying, try to understand why they feel the need to use food as a coping mechanism and slowly start to understand what steps they might be ready to take in order to start making some changes. Read the rest of this entry »

You wouldn’t expect to see all of these signs as some are related to different types of eating disorders and even just one or two of them can indicate a serious underlying problem so it’s really important to take them seriously.

Weight loss

This is probably the most obvious warning sign to look out for. Any pupil who rapidly loses a large amount of weight should be followed up on. Occasionally there will be an alternative medical explanation, but in many cases it is a classic symptom of anorexia. Read the rest of this entry »

It’s important to remember that none of these factors mean that a young person WILL develop an eating disorder – they’re simply risk factors and a young person who has a combination of the different factors that we’re going to discuss may be more likely to develop an eating disorder than their peers, so it’s worth being aware of them.

This post looks at social factors – how social factors such as peer influences, group involvement and so on, might contribute to a young person developing an eating disorder. You might also be interested in reading the posts about Family Factors and Personality Factors.

Being bullied, teased or ridiculed due to weight or appearance

Bullying or teasing generally can make a young person more likely to develop mental health issues. If that bullying is specifically orientated around their weight then it is far more likely to act as a contributing factor towards the development of an eating disorder. Read the rest of this entry »