Eating Disorders

Eating disorders refer to a group of illnesses where someone has a distorted view of body shape and weight and they have extreme disturbances in their eating behaviour.

Eating disorders are caused by a range of factors, including social pressures, psychological vulnerabilities and biological predisposition. People who have eating disorders generally have a very low sense of self-esteem and poor sense of self. Anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, compulsive overeating, and binge eating disorder are all types of eating disorders. If you or your loved one has an eating disorder it’s important to seek help as early as possible, as eating disorders can have serious physical and psychological consequences.

Many people with eating disorders feel that they are not "sick enough" or "thin enough" to warrant receiving help for their disorder.

Professor Phillipa Hay from the University of Western Sydney conducted 57 interviews with women with bulimia and found three quarters of them agreed they had a problem with eating, but only one quarter sought medical treatment. "From the women who did, there were reports that their symptoms were dismissed because they were not emaciated," Professor Hay said¹.

Anybody whose life is being affected by an eating disorder, regardless of its perceived severity, deserves access to support and treatment. It is a good idea to try and find help sooner rather than later. The longer someone has experienced an eating disorder the more difficult it is to start the recovery process.

Seeking support and guidance from a suitably experienced dietitian can help you start the recovery process. Feelings of shame, low motivation for change and a feeling that the problem can be handled on your own often prevent the individual from seeking help.

A dietitian as part of a team of health professionals can educate about eating disorders (e.g. myths and medical consequences) and teach techniques to help the individual change their unhealthy eating patterns and the dysfunctional beliefs that maintain the eating disorder.

Our dietitian Kate Fleming, has experience working with children, pre-adolescents, adolescents, adults and their family and carers. Working as part of a multidisciplinary team (such as a GP or psychologist) to support people to make positive changes in their relationship with food. It is important to recognize that many other factors can manifest in negative eating behaviours and food beliefs and that support from medical practitioners, mental health workers, social workers and support for families is important.

Kate has completed professional development in counselling skills, CBT, ACT and Mindfulness therapies, these skills in complementary psychological therapies, assist clients to make positive nutritional changes.

For further information, please feel free to call us on 08 9204 2588.

Related Links

Centre for Clinical Interventions