In my own words: real life experiences of eating
disorders
It can be very worrying having an eating disorder and you may feel alone. However, a large
number of people are affected by an eating disorder – so you are most definitely not alone.
Many of our clients tell us it can be helpful reading about some real life experiences of having
an eating disorder and receiving treatment.
Vicky Brown is Clinical Lead for the Community Eating Disorders Service and has many
years’ experience providing support and treatment to young people who have an eating
disorder. Here she answers some common questions that many young people have.
Q. What is an eating disorder?
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Eating disorders are a range of conditions that can affect someone physically,
psychologically and socially. They are serious mental illnesses which include anorexia,
bulimia and binge eating disorder. Over 725,000 men and women in the UK are affected
by an eating disorder.
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Although serious, eating disorders are treatable conditions and full recovery is possible.
The sooner someone gets the treatment they need, the more likely they are to make a
full recovery.
Q What to do if you think you have an eating disorder?
 Eating disorders are complex; there’s no single cause and not all symptoms will apply to
all people. You may feel that you have a mixture of anorexia, bulimia and binge eating
disorder, or even alternate between them
 Sometimes people worry about talking to someone because they feel their eating
disorder isn’t serious enough, they don’t want to worry people or waste their time, or
because they feel guilty, embarrassed or ashamed
 Whether your eating difficulties began recently, you’ve been struggling for a while or
you’re finding yourself relapsing, you deserve support and with this support you can
overcome your eating disorder
 Find someone you can talk to about your worries. This is one of the first steps you can
take to getting help - consider telling your parents, teacher, GP, or counsellor
 If you’re aged 16 to 18, you can refer yourself to our Community Eating Disorders
Service for advice and support. Email the team at [email protected] or phone us on
0161 716 4060.
 If you’re aged under 16, you’ll need to be referred to our core Healthy Young Minds
Service. However we work closely with our colleagues in the service to provide extra
support to those who need it. Speak to your GP, teacher or another professional, who
can refer you
 Find out more at: www.healthyyoungmindspennine.nhs.uk
Q: What to do if you suspect someone you know has a problem with
eating?
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Talk to the young person and tell them what you have noticed. You may be able to help
them tell someone about what they are experiencing
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You could suggest they tell someone who might be able to help them - ‘a trusted adult’
like a teacher, mentor, or leader of a group (e.g. a sports group, youth or religious
group). They will be able to help them decide what to do next. This might be to tell
their parents, make an appointment with their GP or contact us
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If you don’t feel like you can talk to the young person directly, talk to someone else who
you trust about your concerns
Q:
If I receive treatment, does anyone need to know about my illness?
This is always a little tricky to answer as we have to ensure the your own and others safety.
However, as a general rule:
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If you are aged 16 to 18 years, you can refer yourself to our service if you think you
might have an eating disorder. As you are over 16 years, you do not need to tell your
parents
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Eating disorders can be very serious and can affect your health in a critical way and we
know that having support around you can be helpful to your recovery. We will talk to
you about the benefits of telling your parents/carer so they can support you

We don’t always have to tell your parents. However, if you are so unwell that we are
very worried about your physical health, or you are at risk in some way, we may have to
tell someone to help keep you safe from harm. This is likely to be your parents or carer

Eating disorders can be very risky to your health, so we always have to work alongside
your GP to let them know about the treatment we are providing.
Q:
What types of treatment can I expect to receive?

Our service provides a range of treatments. Firstly we will help you understand your
difficulties and what you are experiencing and will then talk about then how best we can
help you
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We call this discussion a mental health assessment. This will look at the whole of your
emotional and mental health and particularly the difficulties you are experiencing

Once we reach an understanding of your eating disorder, we will then work with you to
try and tackle these symptoms, so you can overcome or manage them
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We will decide together what help and support is best for you. This could include:
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Q:
Face-to-face Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT – a talking therapy)
Online CBT
Family work
Family therapy
Dietetic therapy
Support work
Medical help
Physical health assessment
Education about your illness
What happens when I contact the service?

Eating disorders can seriously affect your physical health and we need to be sure you
have had some checks with the GP. This might include some blood tests or an ECG –
electro cardiogram (tracing of your heart rate); your general physical health; blood
pressure and pulse measurements, also to check your height and weight. There is
nothing unpleasant about these checks and they are usually done during a quick
appointment with your GP or practice nurse

If you have referred yourself – we will look at the information you have provided and
then make a decision whether we need to ask you to go to see your GP to have a
physical health check

We then make a decision on how quickly you need to be seen. If the information you
have provided, or the results from your GP check, highlight that you are very unwell we
might ask you to go to accident and emergency that day for urgent help. This is rare
but can happen in some cases. We can also offer to see you within five days if your
symptoms are very worrying

In the majority of cases we will send you an appointment thought the post. This will be
within four weeks from the date we received your referral

We will send you some questionnaires to complete, which you will bring with you to your
first appointment. This will help us to understanding what you are experiencing

We will also send you some useful information so you can start learning about eating
difficulties and some self-help information, which will help you to understand what you
are going through and help you to take control of your recovery
Q:
What types of staff work in the service?
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Q:
Our team is multi-disciplinary, which means lots of different professionals all work
together to provide you with the best care. This includes doctors, nurses, dieticians,
therapists, clinical support workers and admin staff
What types of qualifications do the staff have?

Our staff have lots of different qualifications and undertake lots of different types of
training – including basic training in a health/social care qualification. As well as this,
they have experience of working in many different areas of children’s and young
people’s mental health services
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There is a wide range of additional training they might do, which could include:
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Q.
CBT training, including online training
Parent training (to enable them to help and support parents)
Nurse prescribing (to enable them to prescribe medication)
Counselling
Psychotherapy training
How to find out more
If you have any questions, or are worried about yourself or someone else, please do get in
touch with us in one of the following ways:
Address:
Community Eating Disorder Service (CEDS)
Grosvenor House
High Street
Stockport
SK11EG
Telephone: 0161 716 4060
Email: [email protected]
You can also visit our website at www.healthyyoungmindspennine.nhs.uk/eatingdisorders
Other sources of help:
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Your GP
Healthy Young Minds website: www.healthyyoungmindspennine.nhs.uk
B-eat: www.b-eat.co.uk
NHS Choices: www.nhs.uk (search eating disorders)
Papyrus prevention of young suicide: www.papyrus-uk.org or phone 0800 068 41 41
Samaritans: www.samaritans.org or phone 116 123 from any phone (available 24
hours a day 365 days a year)