What is an Eating Disorder?

An eating disorder is a mental health condition, and it affects people of all ages, genders, ethnicities and backgrounds. An eating disorder is where you use the control of food to cope with difficult situations and feelings. You may develop unhealthy eating behaviours that include eating too much or too little or worry about your body shape and weight.

There are different eating disorders such as bulimia, anorexia and binge eating – all of which you can recover from with the right help. It is important that you seek help early on as eating disorders can have a damaging impact on your physical and emotional self.

There is help out there for eating disorders, it’s important to seek professional advice to get to the root of why you have developed a potential eating disorder. Recognising what your triggers are can help you understand your eating behaviours and take small steps to make a change.

We recommend that if you feel you may have an eating disorder you start by speaking to someone who you feel comfortable with and get support to access professional help from a GP. There are a number of organisations that can help you identify if you have an eating disorder and more information about them. We have added link on our Get Help page for you to access.