What is an eating disorder?
Are you worried about your relationship with food and your weight? Do you feel ashamed when you eat or adopt extreme behaviours around food to make yourself feel better? Learn more about the symptoms of eating disorders, how these disorders develop, and whether they can be treated.
To remember
👉 Eating disorders are serious mental illnesses. They impact one's relationship with food, weight, and body image. Anyone can be affected.
👉 Several factors can lead to an eating disorder: personality, difficult relationships, painful events, social pressure...
👉 It is possible to recover from an eating disorder. Seek help from a health professional.
Eating disorders fall under the broad umbrella of mental health disorders. A person with an eating disorder is obsessed with their weight, body image, and food. These thoughts are so intense that they lead to unhealthy eating habits that can sometimes become dangerous. There is a great deal of pain behind these behaviours.
Although they on average affect girls and women more, eating disorders can happen to anyone.
An eating disorder is not…
... eating more or eating less depending on whether you are worried, stressed, or sad. Yes, your emotions affect how you eat; it's normal to observe these changes over short periods. But if you only manage your emotions through your eating habits, it's important to talk about it.
... having difficulty eating healthily from time to time, following a diet, or being preoccupied with your body or weight. That can happen to anyone. But that doesn't stop you from talking about it if needed.
... always linked to a person's weight. It's possible to suffer from anorexia without being underweight, or to be thin without experiencing this issue.
Can eating disorders be treated?
Of course, provided that you get the support you need. Consult with a health care professional who will know how to support and help you. Don’t give up, even if it seems to take a long time and isn’t always easy. Once you’re completely healed, you’ll finally be able to focus on your dreams and goals, and you’ll achieve them much more easily!
Generally, an eating disorder develops when you feel something is not going as you think it should, when you are having trouble managing difficult emotions, if you are finding it really hard to overcome a particular problem, or are unable to satisfy a need that you perceive. If you think you have an eating disorder, a specialized professional can help you understand what is triggering it, which will make it a lot easier for you to find healthy ways to handle life’s challenges.
Can eating disorders be cured?
Absolutely, provided you have the right support. Consult a health professional who can guide and support you. Don't give up your efforts, even if it feels like a long time and even if it's not easy. Once you are fully recovered, you will finally be able to focus on your dreams, on your goals, and you will be able to achieve them more easily.
