National Eating Disorders Awareness Week

What is an eating disorder?

An eating disorder is a serious mental health condition that involves having an unhealthy relationship with eating or eating-related behaviour, which can impact all aspects of day-to-day life. It’s important to remember that eating disorders are not all about food itself, but about feelings. The way the person interacts with food may make them feel more able to cope or may make them feel in control.

If you haven’t had an eating disorder or haven’t know someone who has, it may be that your understanding of them is based on the way they’re shown in the media. However, the way eating disorders present themselves can vary from person to person. Eating disorders can also be difficult to identify because it’s not possible to tell if someone has one just by looking at them.

If you think you might be having problems with your eating, feel that difficult feelings or situations are making you change your eating habits, or feel differently about food, our Mental Wellbeing Team is here to support you and sign post you to further help.

Types of Eating Disorder:

• Anorexia Nervosa
• Bulimia Nervosa
• ARFID
• Binge Eating Disorder
• OSFED
• Orthorexia
• PICA
• Rumination Disorder

You can find more information on different types of eating disorders on the Beat website, the UK's Eating Disorder Charity.

Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID)

The theme for this year's Eating Disorders Awareness Week 2024 is ARFID, which stands for Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder. ARFID is a condition characterised by a person avoiding certain foods, restricting the amount of food they eat, or both. They may be sensitive to the taste, texture, or smell of certain foods; may have had a negative experience eating certain foods; or they may have a low interest in eating.

ARFID can have a significant impact on both your physical and mental health. The lack of a healthy diet can affect your day-to-day functioning and mood. It can also impact socialising, especially when it comes to eating.

What is Body Image?

Body image is how you think and feel about your physical appearance, as well as how you feel in your own skin. A person can have a healthy or unhealthy body image, regardless of how they look. The Mental Health Foundation provides information, resources, and advice surrounding body image. You can find support through the NHS on how to build a positive relationship with your body.

What can influence Body Image?

The thoughts we have about ourselves are often influenced by the things going on around us, here are some examples:

• Things we see on social media
• promotion of what the ‘perfect’ body should look like
• Characters on TV
• Comments from friends and family
• Adverts
• Health campaigns or lessons at school on what is a ‘healthy body’
• Comparing ourselves to our role models.

Why is having an unhealthy Body Image detrimental to our mental health?

• Spending large amounts of time fixating on your body and comparing yourself can be exhausting and impact on many areas of your mental health.
• It heightens feelings of anxiety and can contribute towards low self-esteem.
• It can impact on our aspirations and achievements if our confidence is reduced

Accessing support and further information

Whether you think you may have an eating disorder, or are worried about someone close to you, the Mental Wellbeing Team can support you and signpost you to other NHS services if needed. The first port of call will be speaking to your GP, but for additional support you can also reach out to specific helplines and charities like Beat.

We’re here for you

Your mental wellbeing is important to us - that’s why we offer a wide variety of confidential support and advice to help you out whenever you need it.

• Our Mental Wellbeing team
  Whether you're feeling stressed, suffering from anxiety or you need help with a diagnosed mental health condition, the Mental Wellbeing team is here for you.
• Spectrum.Life
  This platform offers all students in the moment and out-of-hours support via text, telephone or App from qualified professionals. They also have guides, videos and podcasts to support your wellbeing.
• Nightline
  A student-run listening and information service offering a safe, non-judgemental environment for CCCU students to talk about their feelings and gain emotional support and information.