National Hypnotherapy Society | Eating Disorder Awareness Week - Why…

According to a survey conducted by YouGov, more than one in three adults (34%) in the UK, could not name any signs or symptoms of eating disorders. There are several types of eating disorders, the most common eating disorders are:

anorexia nervosa – when you try to keep your weight as low as possible by not eating enough food, exercising too much, or both

bulimia – when you sometimes lose control and eat a lot of food in a very short amount of time (binging) and are then deliberately sick, use laxatives, restrict what you eat, or do too much exercise to try to stop yourself gaining weight

binge eating disorder (BED) – when you regularly lose control of your eating, eat large portions of food all at once until you feel uncomfortably full, and are then often upset or guilty

other specified feeding or eating disorder (OSFED) – when your symptoms don't exactly match those of anorexia, bulimia or binge eating disorder, but it doesn't mean it's a less serious illness

What are the signs to watch out for?

While you cannot tell if someone is suffering from an eating disorder just by looking at them, there are signs that you can look out for if you are worried about someone. The The UK’s eating disorder charity Beat, says the main signs to watch out for are:

- becoming obsessive about food

- changes in behaviour

- having distorted beliefs about their body size

- often tired or struggling to concentrate

- disappearing to the toilet after meals

- starting to exercise excessively

Supporting somebody with an eating disorder

While it is important to encourage anyone with an eating disorder to seek professional help as soon as possible, there are lots of ways in which you can support someone with an eating disorder; despite your experience or relationship to the person. Beat has some helpful and in-depth suggestions at the page below:

https://www.beateatingdisorders.org.uk/recovery-information/supporting-somebody.

There are also several helpful downloadable resources available here:

https://www.beateatingdisorders.org.uk/types/downloadable-resources.

Hypnotherapy can be and effective way to treat eating disorders, if you feel you or someone in your life could benefit from seeing a hypnotherapist or simply to find out more information, you can search our website to find a therapist near you here:

https://www.nationalhypnotherapysociety.org/find-therapist.