A love/hate relationship with food

by Former Member

Friday 18th September 2015

When we talk about eating disorders we can mean any number of conditions which categorised by their abnormal relationship with food. The three most common are anorexia nervosa, bulimia and binge eating disorder (BED), where someone is compelled to eat a vast amount of food in a short space of time.

So what is ‘abnormal’ when it comes to food? A doctor would tell you that if you have an eating disorder, you focus excessively on your weight and make unhealthy choices about food as a result, which can lead to damage to your mental and physical health.

Ok, so what would make me feel this way? There are plenty of reasons people develop different behaviours concerning food. For some people it may be that they want to change their body shape to fit in with an ideal they’ve developed – it can become a fixation.

For others, the reasoning can be a bit more complex – an eating disorder can be a reaction to something that they feel they have no control over, for instance being bullied or experiencing a trauma like the death of someone close to you.

Or it could be something completely different, hard to articulate or put your finger on. You can also develop a difficult relationship with food if that’s all you’ve ever seen in those around you – your environment growing up has a huge influence on your behaviour and your self-esteem.
A period of prolonged stress can also change your eating habits, so for instance exam time can be really tricky for some of us to negotiate.

The important thing to remember is that you don’t need to suffer in silence. If you, or someone you know, is struggling with food, take a look at this brand new site from Fixers – Fixing Eating Disorders.
You can also talk to Get Connected. Our helpline team can support you to work through what’s going on for you and help you find the right support, or if you’d like to access our counselling service they can talk you through what’s involved.

Why not check our WebHelp 24/7 directory for other services that can support you, including the national eating disorder helpline service, b-eat.

This post was originally part of the Get Connected website. YouthNet and Get Connected merged to form The Mix in 2016.