Eating Disorders Awareness Week 2016 #EDAW16 by Dr Hugh Herzig

Did you know that next week 22nd – 29th Feb is Eating Disorders Awareness Week? Perhaps you already feel bombarded by news bulletins about the rising incidence of EDs… or how these days younger and younger people are affected. So why the need to be made more aware of EDs?

At Student Health we have good reasons to want to raise awareness of EDs:
• Eating disorders are not rare and exotic illnesses. They are common in the UK population, particularly so in adolescence and early adult years, and particularly so in student populations.
• They have a profound effect upon mental health, eroding well being and self esteem, so that nothing the sufferer does is ever good enough.
• They have serious physical effects on pretty much every biological system of the body such as skin and dental damage, gastrointestinal and heart problems, bone marrow and liver damage, hormone suppression and hastening the onset of osteoporosis. In fact, EDs lead to greater mortality than any other group of mental illnesses.
• Living with an ED can make life very hard indeed… friendships and social activities are deprioritised, leading to people feeling more and more isolated, anxious and depressed.
• Concentration and stamina can be much affected, so the sufferer cannot perform physically and academically to her/his potential
• Family and friends often don’t know what to say, or worry they will cause upset or have their head bitten off if they express their concern
• Some of our patients at Student Health get so unwell that they need to take time out from university. For those such as medics, vets and dentists whose degrees lead on to accreditation with a national professional body, their ED may make them unfit to practice as a registered professional.

ED Awareness week may provide an opportunity to break the taboo that surrounds EDs.

You may feel able to bring up this sensitive topic with that friend you’ve been worrying about, but who seems always to want to keep herself to herself. It is likely that doing so will help her… even if she seems not to appreciate it at the time.

If you have severe eating and weight anxieties yourself, this week may be the time to tell someone a bit about it, allow a friend to support you, maybe even seek help from your doctor. All the staff at Student Health are experienced in helping people with EDs, and in Bristol we have good services to treat eating disorders, including the First Step service which offers psychological treatments in our very own Health Centre

We are here to help YOU!

Eating Disorder Awareness Week 23rd Feb- 1st March 2015

This week is national charity B-eat’s Eating Disorders Awareness Week. B-eat aims to challenge stereotypes and increase understanding for the 6.4% of the adult population who show signs of an eating disorder, as well as their friends and families.

When attempts to diet get out of hand, and the pattern with food impacts on other areas of life, such as friendships, relationships, health, work or study, people are often thought to have an eating disorder. Usually people with eating disorders worry a lot about the physical appearance of their bodies.

Many of those experiencing eating disorders are students. In fact, First Step (Bristol’s primary care eating disorder service) receives more referrals from the Students’ Health Service than any other surgery in the city.

First Step is a free specialist service for people with eating disorders, including anorexia and bulimia. We offer advice and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) sessions at Hampton House.

‘Over-evaluation of weight or shape, and their control’

Eating disorders have been characterised by Christopher Fairburn as an over-evaluation of weight or shape and their control. This state of mind is maintained by behaviours such as dieting, bingeing, exercise, purgeing, body checking and avoidance. The associated consequences of these behaviours, such as weight changes, preoccupation and social withdrawal tend to further increase the degree of importance given to body image and the need to control it.

One of the early challenges for people with eating disorders who are doing CBT is to experiment with eating three balanced meals and snacks per day. As other behaviours are reduced and consequences change, body weight and shape usually begin to feel less important. Body image dissatisfaction is also directly addressed in CBT.

So, we must love our bodies…?

One of my early lessons when training as a therapist was not to expect anyone to do anything that I wouldn’t be willing to do myself. I have endeavoured to carry on this ethos throughout my practice.

Last year, on a workshop with about 200 therapists, we were asked to raise our hands if we loved our bodies. One person raised their hand. It wasn’t me. This highlighted to me the danger of thinking of body dissatisfaction as a ‘symptom’ confined only to those with a diagnosable eating disorder.

‘Over-evaluation of weight or shape and their control’ is also not about vanity or a personal failing. It is a reflection of the culture that we live in, where the media links ever changing and increasingly unrealistic ideas of beauty to our fundamental human need for connection and acceptance from others. If everyone believed that they looked fine, and would be loved regardless of appearance, the diet and fashion industry would go under and the economy would take a serious hit.

So, you weren’t designed with an inbuilt immunity to the messages around you? Try not to beat yourself up about it. Neither was I. Feeling displeased with aspects of our appearance is a pretty normal reaction to our current times. People with eating disorders have often had these messages reinforced either subtly or explicitly by events in their lives.

 

Think you might have an eating disorder?

You can talk with your doctor at the Students’ Health Service about your situation and about referral to First Step. Choosing to do treatment is rarely easy, but it might be one of the most important things that you ever do.

 

 

The Succeed Foundation’s Vision is “A World Free From Eating Disorders”

The Succeed Foundation has a simple mission to free the world from eating disorders. Through fundraising and investment in innovative research, and the promotion of ground-breaking evidence-based treatments and preventions, the charity aims to tackle eating disorders in measureable ways.

Every individual with an eating disorder is unique. They will not all respond to the same treatment. In partnership with researchers and clinicians, we develop a broad range of approaches and transform the science into practical tools that sufferers can beneficiate in their daily life as a self-help tool. We want to move from awareness to action.

The Succeed Body Image Programme

 The charity has a wealth of sound scientific research behind it thanks to its association with a number of academic institutions; including the University of the West of England; their Centre for Appearance Research is monitoring the Body Image programme in the UK, headed by research fellow and Doctor Phillippa Diedrichs.

The Succeed Body Image Programme (SBIP) is a cognitive dissonance-based intervention.

Dissonance theory suggests that if individuals act in ways that contradict their beliefs then they will typically change their beliefs to align with these actions. The Succeed Body Image Programme therefore, actively engages its participants in of a series of verbal, written and behavioural exercises that critique the unrealistic, ultra-thin-ideal standard of female beauty.

The SBIP is designed to help individuals across all spectrums to establish and maintain a positive body image. Using highly interactive, peer-led, small groups, it is a two-day, intervention program designed by experts and implemented through trained peer leaders on college campuses throughout the UK.  As the first peer-led, evidence-based eating disorders prevention program shown to truly work, The Body Image Program does not specifically focus on eating disorders; rather, it emphasizes creating and reaffirming positive and healthy personal body image through a variety of structured discussions, activities, and exercises. The phenomenal program has a proven track record – not only on improving body image issues, but on encouraging healthy confrontation and communication skills as well. It is the first scientifically supported evidence-based eating disorders prevention program designed.

Fat Talk Free

Fat Talk describes all of the statements made in everyday conversation that reinforce the thin ideal and contribute to women’s dissatisfaction with their bodies. We want to raise the nation’s consciousness about the danger of fat talk and our initiative is to eliminate that kind of talk from our lives and stop appearances critiques and accept the way we are.

This can be achieved by simply changing our conversation.

Our Success depends on collaboration and monitoring our work we want to focus in what works.

to access the support contact the Succeed Foundation Directly

www.succeedfoundation.org

Carers may find this link helpful too;

http://www.succeedfoundation.org/work/skillsforcarers

 

 

Eating Disorders Awareness Week; 24 February 2014.

Beat, the Eating Disorders Charity, is running a national awareness week called ‘Sock it to Eating Disorders’ this week. It is a light hearted way to bring people together, do a bit of fundraising, and raise the profile of a devastating group of conditions.

As a GP at Students’ Health I deal with such conditions most weeks, and one can become too focussed on the medical aspects, so it’s good to stop and think occasionally about what these illnesses mean to the people who suffer from them, and their friends and families. And nothing brings that home like the Beat “Lasting Memories” page, which reminded me of the immense impact that such a potentially fatal condition can have.

What a long list of lost young people, mainly women, and so many aged around 18-20, like the students I look after every day. The messages left by family and friends are heart breaking, and this online wall of memorials is a sobering reminder of why I and my colleagues spend so much time and energy improving and developing local services for Eating Disorders in Bristol.

We have made it so much easier in the last 2 or 3 years to get help that hopefully such memorials will become rare, and fewer families will be turned upside down by such tragic deaths.

Here at Students’ Health Service we really do want to help you if you have, or think you might have, an eating disorder, so please do come and see any of the GPs, and talk about referral onto First Step, the new Bristol-wide community based service for assessment and therapy. First Step is led by a clinical psychologist, and you can have your appointment in the same building as the GP practice, no need to go to hospital. The average waiting time for an appointment with them is about 3 weeks, not long at all, so don’t hesitate if you are suffering… come and talk to us.

 

http://www.b-eat.co.uk/support-us/get-involved/lasting-memories/

 

http://www.awp.nhs.uk/news-publications/trust-news/2013/july/another-step-forward-in-eating-disorders-support-for-bristol/

Specialist Treatment for Eating Disorders

Despite references to eating disorders in texts dating from the time of the ancient Pharoes, and even a mention in Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure, the development of effective treatments has been slow. 

However, a treatment called cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is now yielding results.   Indeed, as a result of research demonstrating its effectiveness, CBT is now recommended as the first line treatment for people who have not responded to a self-help approach.  

 At the heart of CBT lies the deceptively simple idea that eating disorders are driven by an irrational fear of uncontrollable weight gain.  This fear leading to counterproductive forms of dieting which, whilst intended to prevent weight gain, often have the opposite effect and thereby cause more distress and further reinforce the original fear.  CBT tackles the belief that strict diets are the only way to prevent weight gain by encouraging clients to see what really happens when they give up dieting and take up healthy exercise.

 For many with eating disorders the idea of consuming between 1,900 and 2500 kilocalories a day just to see what happens is a terrifying prospect and indeed the treatment is not for the faint-hearted.  But what most people find is that their body burns the energy they consume and their weight remains within healthy limits. 

 Treatment therefore provides a safe and supportive environment in which to take the plunge, give up dieting and see what happens.  And, at the end of six months treatment, if people don’t like the results of their experiment in normal eating, then they are free to return to the diets they were using beforehand.  

 Evidence suggests that about three quarters of people who complete the treatment find it useful.  Whilst this is a promising start, the quest to refine the treatment and thereby improve recovery rates goes on.

Doing CBT is a substantial commitment.  It takes time, energy, hard work, determination, perseverance and courage.  As I tell my clients, “you have to do all the hard work yourself”.  But if living with an eating disorder is ruining your life then it might be worth considering if treatment could be right for you.  If you’d like to talk to someone about whether CBT could help you overcome an eating disorder your GP will be happy to discuss it with you and to make a referral for treatment if necessary.

http://www.bristol.ac.uk/students-health/services/eating-disorders/

 

Eating Disorders Awareness Week 11th Feb 2013

Student-Run-Self-Help (SRSH) is a national charity that aims to support students suffering from eating disorders by providing a safe space for students to talk within student-run group sessions. We are driven by young people’s personal experiences of living with mental health issues and aim to provide a confidential, non-judgmental, welcoming environment for those who need support.

“I know I owe my recovery to having amazing people to talk to, people who really understood. Through SRSH my ambition is to ensure that all students have someone to talk to, someone who understands!” (Nicola Byrom, the founding director of SRSH)

In Bristol, we run sessions every alternate Monday in the Just Ask office on the 4th floor of the Student Union from 6.30-7.30pm. We welcome both sufferers and their friends/family. We bring together people who understand each other’s problems and although we know it can be difficult to talk, in a group setting everyone is there to help each other on the road to recovery.

Eating disorder awareness week is the 11-15th February and we feel this is a great opportunity to try and increase students understanding of what an eating disorder is, and what they may be able to do to help friends who may be suffering. This quote provided by a student recovering from an eating disorder simply re-enforces how important it is to talk.

‘ After years of treatment, medication and therapy, the one thing that actually enabled me to overcome this isolating, life-destroying illness, was talking to friends and family. When I started to let others in and shared every little step I made, it made the long road seem much shorter, easier almost, and certainly there was no turning back. There are people out there, lots of them willing to help, and the SRSH team are some of them, and if you are prepared to accept it, recovery is possible.’

We will be running a campaign called “Something Worth Talking About” in the foyer of the Students’ Health Service, Hampton House, on Monday 11th February where people will have the opportunity to learn more about the facts and fiction of eating disorders through various interactive activities.

There will also be a “How to Save a Life” workshop on 21st February at 5.30pm (Venue: MR6 Large, in the Students’ Union) for friends of sufferers. This workshop provides support and invaluable advice for the friends of sufferers. SRSH ran one last term, and with the feedback from attendees, decided it was so successful that it would be repeated.

Although the SRSH team provide a space for sufferers to talk, they are not professionals, and students are encouraged to seek care and advice from the University of Bristol’s Students’ Health Service and Student Counselling.

For more information on the national charity visit: http://www.srsh.co.uk/

Find us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/UBU-eatingdisorders-SRSH/168537216577838?fref=ts

Or visit our union webpage: http://www.ubu.org.uk/justask/supportgroups/eatingdisorders/

The Olympic Games and the Untold Legacy

This blog is a personal viewpoint from the service’s eating disorders specialist…

Will Devlin, clinical psychologist and specialist in eating disorders for the University of Bristol, looks almost sheepish as he describes his mixed feelings about the great sporting achievements we watched with pride just a few months ago:

“…Don’t get me wrong,” he says, “there’s no doubt that the Olympic Games were a proud moment in the history of the country and many of us have been inspired by the achievements of athletes like Jessica Ennis, Jonnie Peacock, and Anthony Joshua.

“But what I can’t help wondering is what effect images of these almost superhuman, super lean, super muscled athletes is having on people who are unhappy with their bodies.  Very few of us have the genetic make up, let alone the motivation, dedication, sponsorship, training and time to develop the kind of body which we’ve seen so much of during the UK’s summer of sport.

“It’s one thing to be inspired to get fit by the Olympics, even I’ve been inspired to get back to the gym.  But the fact is,” Will says with a smile, patting his tummy, “like most of the population I’ll never have the body of an Olympian however hard I try! 

His fear is that amidst the pride and positive social change inspired by the Olympics, one untold legacy will be an increase in the number of people at risk of eating disorders: “I worry that if more of us end up unhappy with our bodies, then more of us might resort to unhealthy attempts to shape up as we aspire to a rippling six-pack, tight buns or super-pert breasts.

It’s not a popular view, that inspiring a nation with acts of sporting heroism could actually be bad for some people, but as I listen to Will’s concerns I do see his point: “Condemnation is growing on all sides at the use of size zero models on the catwalk, and Kate Moss was roundly criticized for endorsing starvation when she said, ‘nothing tastes as good as skinny feels’ …but it’s not easy to say that super lean athletes might have just the same effect as emaciated supermodels on those of us who want the perfect body but simply can’t have it.  “And don’t forget,” Will says, “the athletes themselves face these same pressures, eating disorders are rife amongst sports men and women, in fact it is estimated that more than one in 10 elite athletes may have an eating disorder.”

Will’s comments get me thinking about this untold legacy, and what some of the unintended outcomes of our summer of sport might be.  There’s no doubt that the efforts of Team GB and our paralympian heroes have the power to inspire a generation, but perhaps it’s also important to recognize that the pursuit of athletic success and the body beautiful may also have its downsides.

Will works at the University’s Student Health Service.  If you think you might have an eating disorder, talking to one of the service’s GPs will ensure you get access to the specialist help you need.

 

Eating Your Heart Out

Many of us eat chocolate when we want a treat, or when we’re having a bad day – and where’s the harm in that? 

 

We don’t just eat for health; the fact is eating is one of life’s pleasures.  There’s no reason why we shouldn’t enjoy food or use it now and then to lift our spirits: as the saying goes, “all things in moderation.” The difficulty comes when comfort eating becomes our main way of dealing with upset. 

 

Comfort eating provides a distraction from difficult thoughts and negative emotions but when it’s our only way of coping it can easily get out of hand: a bar of chocolate or a slice of toast can be the trigger for a full on binge.  Many people who overeat like this say that whilst they’re bingeing everything else seems to stop: they feel in a world of their own where difficult thoughts and feelings can’t touch them.  It’s only afterwards that the distress returns, only when it does it’s made worse by uncomfortable bloating, concerns about weight gain, frustration, guilt and shame. 

 

Such negative feelings in the aftermath of a binge can erode self esteem and increase vulnerability to future stresses and from here it’s easy to see how a vicious cycle can develop: upset leading to binge eating and binge eating leading to greater vulnerability to future upset so making binge eating ever more likely.  Many specialists see such vicious cycles as being at the heart of eating disorders.

 

There’s no harm in eating for comfort now and then, but if you find yourself trapped in the vicious cycle then it can be useful to know that there are ways of breaking out.  Whilst many people can break out on their own and with the support of friends and family, some people will need professional help. 

 

If you are struggling to manage disordered eating then perhaps the Student’s Health Service can help.  The Service offers specialist support for people with eating disorders and many students have used it to turn their lives around.  If you think you might need specialist help then the first step is a visit to your doctor.  Whilst it can be embarrassing to talk about such problems, all our doctors are fully trained and highly experienced in working with people battling eating disorders.   they may refer you to the practice’s psychologist or on to a more specialised doctor. There’s no shame in seeking help: rest assured you’ll be treated in confidence, with respect and sensitivity.

www.b-eat.co.uk