Eating Disorders: An introduction

Around 1.6 million people in Britain are affected by eating disorders. 14-25 year-old girls are most at risk, but they also affect men and may develop during childhood or later in life.

Sufferers often have a distorted view of their shape and may try to manage their weight by over-exercising, making themselves sick, fasting for long periods or abusing laxatives. However, eating disorders are about more much than weight. They are ways of trying to manage deeper emotional and even spiritual issues.

What I mean by that is this: Eating disorders start and end with our hearts. Sure, we can throw in factors like celebrity role-models and media coverage. But they raise much bigger questions than whether or not our clothes fit. They’re about what it means to be human. What gives us identity and worth. Life and death and everything in-between. What we worship. Proverbs 14:12 says that ‘There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.’ Eating disorders do exactly this. They promise life – but take it from you instead.

People with eating disorders use food to deal with uncomfortable or painful emotions. Restricting food is used to feel in control. Overeating temporarily soothes sadness, anger, or loneliness. Purging is used to combat feelings of helplessness and self-loathing. Over time, sufferers lose the ability to see themselves objectively and obsessions over food and weight come to dominate everything else in life. The best known examples are anorexia (restricting food intake) and bulimia (eating large quantities of food and then getting rid of it, e.g; by vomiting or using laxatives). However, EDs don’t necessarily fit into the categories above. When symptoms don’t fit a specific diagnosis they’re called an ‘eating disorder not otherwise specified' (EDNOS). This includes binge-eating disorder (eating large quantities of food without getting rid of it).

Causes: they are often a combination of biological, psychological and environmental factors. Some personality types may be particularly vulnerable, including perfectionists with low self-worth. They can also develop as a result of unintentional weight loss, e.g. after sickness.

Possible warning signs:

• weight loss or unusual weight changes, wearing baggy clothes
• missing meals, eating very little or in secret, avoiding ‘fattening’ foods
• denying any problem or becoming very upset if confronted
• large amounts of food disappearing, empty wrappers, stashes of high calorie foods (for binging)
• going to the toilet after meals, (may use mouthwash/perfume etc to disguise smell)
• sore throat or tooth decay, swollen cheeks or ankles, poor skin, bruising on knuckles (from making themself sick)
• personality changes, (e.g; anxiety or depression, being secretive, loss of interest in normal activities)
• impulsive or obsessive behaviours, (e.g; rituals with cutting up food, promiscuity, overspending)
• poor concentration, missing school, college or work
• withdrawal from friends

And it's always worth remembering:

• Weight loss or gain is just one symptom: don’t assume that because someone looks ok that they really are. Those struggling with eating disorders will often go to great lengths to disguise their behaviours.
• Anorexia has the highest mortality, but all eating disorders cause enormous emotional and psychological distress and should be taken seriously. They frequently coexist with other illnesses such as depression, substance abuse, or anxiety disorders.

How to help

You can't force a person with an eating disorder to change, but you can encourage them to seek treatment and be there for them as they seek to recover. You can pray for and with them, encourage them, keep them company and hope for them when they can’t hope for themselves. Most of all, you can gently point them to the Saviour who brings light in darkness and who proclaims liberty to those who are in slavery, (Luke 4:18).

Emma Scrivener was born in Belfast, but now lives with her husband in the south east of England. She suffered from life-threatening anorexia as a child and as an adult. She now speaks and writes about her experiences at www.emmascrivener.net. Her book A New Name is available now.