What are eating disorders?
The NHS define eating disorders as ‘a mental health condition where you use the control of food to cope with feelings and other situations.’
Eating disorders can present in many different ways and include both over and under eating. They also include intrusive thoughts about your body weight or shape. Mental health conditions can also sit alongside eating disorders making them very difficult to treat.
Eating disorders can happen to anyone but they are most common in young people between the ages of 13-17.
It’s important to seek medical advice if you are struggling with any type of eating disorder.
Types of eating disorders
There are 3 main types of eating disorders recognised by the NHS. These are:
- Anorexia Nervosa – This is more commonly referred to as Anorexia. This is a condition where someone is trying to control their weight. It is done by either not eating enough food, over exercising or a combination of both. Anorexia also involves the control of water intake as well as food. A person could develop rules around what they feel they can and can’t eat which ensures restriction and control.
- Bulimia – Someone with bulimia will eat a lot of food in a very short space of time, commonly called binge eating. After this they will then purge the food to prevent them from gaining weight. There are different ways that a person could choose to purge the food from their body. They may make themselves vomit, use laxatives or diuretics, fast, do an excessive amount of exercise or a combination of all of these. This condition is most common in those aged between 15 and 25. A person could develop rules around what they feel they can and can’t eat which ensures restriction and control.
- Binge Eating Disorder (BED) – This condition is when someone eats an excessive amount of food in a short period of time. It is a mental health condition that causes people to feel out of control of their actions. Periods of binge eating can sometime be planned but can also be random and people will often be alone when they do it. After someone has had an episode of binge eating, they can often feel ashamed of what they have done or feel guilty about it. It is most common to see this condition in people that are over 20 years old.
Signs and Symptoms
Some signs of a person struggling with anorexia are:
- Low body weight
- An adult with an unusually low BMI (Body Mass Index)
- Skipping meals
- Eating very little or avoiding certain food groups
- Believing they are overweight even if they are classed as healthy or underweight
- Using appetite suppressants
- Women who have not reached menopausal age no longer having periods
- Younger women or girls not starting their period due to low weight
- Physical symptoms – Lightheaded, dizziness, dry skin, hair loss
Some signs of a person struggling with bulimia are:
- Binge eating – Uncontrollably eating lots of food in a short period of time
- Purging the food out of the body
- Scared of gaining weight
- Very self-critical of their body weight and shape
- Changes to their mood
Some signs of a person struggling with BED are:
- Eating without feeling hungry
- Eating very fast
- Being secretive about when and what they eat
- Feelings of guilt and disgust after eating
How can having an eating disorder affect someone’s ability to work?
Eating disorders can affect anyone. It can be very difficult to spot the signs of someone with an eating disorder at work depending on your relationship with them. The workplace can be a highly stressful environment at times and can contribute to someone’s mental ill-health, in turn increasing their struggle in other areas of their life.
Having an eating disorder can impact on someone’s intake of vital nutrients and minerals that we need. This can then affect someone’s energy levels. With low energy it can really change the ability someone has to focus and perform.
Some other things that may be affected in the workplace are:
- Being worried about lunch or eating and drinking in front of other people
- Feeling irritable
- Avoiding social events from fear of eating or needing to binge
- Feeling paranoid about people noticing eating habits
- Can affect their ability to do manual tasks
- Exhaustion during the working day
- Higher risk of burnout
- Struggling to maintain concentration
- Feelings of anxiousness over changes to their work schedule
How can you support someone with an eating disorder?
It can be very difficult to tell if someone is struggling with an eating disorder until it becomes physically visible. This is usually because those suffering with these conditions become very secretive and are extremely good at hiding these behaviours.
Trying to have open conversations around the topic can encourage someone to be open. People can be very hesitant to be honest in the workplace because of stigma that still exists. This means that companies and managers should try to create safe spaces for employees and allow them time to express how they’re feeling.
An occupational health referral can be beneficial in the workplace. This can be used to get advice on any adjustments that can be made in the workplace to help them in their recovery. Adjustments could be anything from working at home, flexible hours or arrangements for them to eat at different times to make them more comfortable.
It’s important to make them understand that they are not to blame for their struggle. Many people feel guilty about their relationship with food, and this can create anxiety about being honest. It can also be helpful to educate yourself around the type of disorder they have. This can help you to better understand what they are going through and the ways that it could be affecting them.
Try to avoid talking about weight, food, body shape and diets with them. Some people will be ok with this type of conversation but others won’t.
However, seeing your healthy relationship with food and exercise can help them to see the benefits. You should also try to be aware of the language that you’re using. Someone struggling with food can have a distorted mindset around the things being said relating to food and their body and will twist it in their mind to align with their thoughts and feelings on their situation.
Most importantly, if you or someone that you know is struggling with a relationship with food or exercise make an appointment with the GP. There are also many charities that can give advice and signpost on where the best places to seek help are.
Recovering from an eating disorder is possible with the right support and reassuring someone of this can have a big impact.
