What do you know about eating disorders? I\u2019m going to guess and say probably not a lot. But I\u2019m more bothered about what you think about them, because eating disorders can be a very misunderstood and disregarded illness.<\/p>\n
In this article I\u2019m going to focus on Anorexia Nervosa, where people try to keep their weight as low as possible by any means. Now, Anorexia wasn\u2019t accepted by the medical profession as a recognised condition until the late nineteenth century.\u00a0 Even then, it wasn\u2019t seen and treated as a mental illness until the twentieth century.\u00a0 Often, treatment was based on physical health and meeting target weights whilst in hospital to then be released with no mental treatment, where the process would then usually begin again at home. Though this has changed and treatment is much improved, people being properly treated for all aspects of the disease; I would argue Anorexia is still very much of an enigma for the public.<\/p>\n
I think it\u2019s sad. It\u2019s sad that even today, many people do not take anorexia seriously and fail to understand the complexity of it. I think it\u2019s sad, the amount of people who make such ignorant comments like \u2018why don\u2019t they just eat something\u2019 as they are clearly unaware of how it is simply not that easy. Anorexia nervosa is so much more than just not eating. But the harsh truth is, people do make these comments, and probably lots of other comments too. More often than you might think. I know this because I\u2019ve heard it and I\u2019ve seen it, I wouldn\u2019t be surprised if you have too perhaps in passing or without even acknowledging it. It\u2019s disturbing that people have such a judgemental, oblivious and insensitive outlook towards anorexia and it\u2019s sufferers. As if it\u2019s some sort of myth that people think they can tear apart, making heinous comments and regards like it\u2019s nothing; like they know so much about it. I think too many people have this misconception of anorexia, using it as a target for abuse and hatred. Don\u2019t you think such comments only make it worse? I think it\u2019s sad that every time I\u2019ve heard such comments made, they\u2019ve all been from people who are the same age as me. This to me poses some serious concerns and questions.<\/p>\n
When I say people don\u2019t take anorexia seriously, I mean they don\u2019t realise that it can be a life threatening condition. Did you know Anorexia Nervosa has the highest mortality rate of any mental illness? It is not a passing phase. It is not a form of attention seeking. It is not something to be taken for granted. It is something that needs to be handled with care and patience. Let\u2019s say, you find that you\u2019re teenage child hasn\u2019t been eating, perhaps hiding food or throwing up whatever they do eat. The last thing you want to do in that situation is get angry at them. Do not punish somebody for experiencing symptoms of a mental illness. Too often people\/parents react completely the wrong way, proceeding to force their child to eat whilst being angry and critical towards them about their behaviour. Rather than being comforting towards them, offering help and support.<\/p>\n
If you or someone you know is (possibly) suffering with anorexia, there are ways to support and ways to get help. There are numerous eating disorder charities such as Beat, Anorexia and Bulimia Care (ABC) and Men Get Eating Disorders Too (MGEDT). And of course the NHS, visit your local GP or hospital where you can receive help, treatment and referrals. If you\u2019re looking to support a friend or family member with an eating disorder you can read how on the NHS website.<\/p>\n
Anorexia is so much more than what you probably think it is.<\/p>\n
Article by Young Reporter Rachel Coo<\/strong> Latest article by one of our Young Reporters. Here Rachel discusses Anorexia. Have a read.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"xn-wppe-expiration":[],"xn-wppe-expiration-action":[],"xn-wppe-expiration-prefix":[],"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[369,11],"tags":[626],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3cThd-5rh","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/vanel.org.uk\/va\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20911"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/vanel.org.uk\/va\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/vanel.org.uk\/va\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/vanel.org.uk\/va\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/vanel.org.uk\/va\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20911"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/vanel.org.uk\/va\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20911\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20913,"href":"http:\/\/vanel.org.uk\/va\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20911\/revisions\/20913"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/vanel.org.uk\/va\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20911"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/vanel.org.uk\/va\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20911"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/vanel.org.uk\/va\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20911"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nFirst appeared in Grimsby Telegraph 21st May 2019<\/em><\/p>\n\n