Eating Difficulties
If your eating patterns or habits are causing you distress or having an impact on your life, then you may have developed an eating problem.
Learn
Eating Problems
Eating disorders are a group of problems that change someone’s attitude towards food and their body in a way that influences what they do and their eating habits. People with eating disorders spend a lot of time thinking about their weight and body shape, and they may do things like restrict what they eat, binge eat, or exercise more than is healthy. Extreme changes in eating habits and behaviour can negatively affect many areas of life, including a person’s physical health, mental health, and social functioning.
VIDEO: Reframing Anxiety
This is a video from The Social by BBC Scotland. Esther De La Ford explains what anxiety is and how to manage it. She talks about ‘reframing anxiety’ to navigate it.
Self-Assess
Is your eating a problem?
People with eating problems worry about their weight, shape and food, to the point where it really affects their life. Here are some of the common experiences described by people who struggle with eating problems. Do you recognise any of them?
How your body might feel
- Tired/exhausted
- Restless
- Lacking in energy
- Difficulty concentrating
- Hungry or difficulty recognising signs of being hungry
Thoughts you might have
- “I know I’m a normal weight, but if I could just lose another half a stone, I’d be happy.”
- “I can’t stop thinking about food. I even dream about it.”
- “I’m so ashamed. I’m an ugly fat pig but food is the only thing that makes me feel better.”
- “I don’t want to start eating because I won’t be able to stop.”
Feelings you might have
- Fear of gaining weight
- Feeling low in confidence
- Feeling depressed, guilty, or disgusted with yourself after eating
- A tendency to feeling low in mood, or anxious
- Finding it difficult to cope with stress
- Finding it hard to express feelings
Things you might do
- Negatively compare your appearance to other people
- Deliberately go for long periods of time without eating anything at all (4+hours)
- Not eat regular meals (usually 3 meals a day)
- Eat when you’re not hungry
- Over-eat or under-eat
- Eat until you feel uncomfortably full, with a sense of loss of control
- Eat in secret
- Purge, making yourself sick, using laxative or exercising excessively
If any of these sound familiar, you can find out more about eating problems in the ‘Learn’ section above. You’ll also find some helpful tips and advice on managing your eating in the ‘Manage’ section below.
Manage
Tips and Resources for Eating Difficulties
There are lots of things you can do to make healthier eating choices. Here are some tips to try and resources to access if you struggle with problem eating.
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We all have to cope and manage with change in our lives for lots of reasons. Here are some tips and thoughts on navigating through a period of change.
Computerised Cognitive Behavioural Therapy
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy – CBT – is a psychological therapy based on the relationships between what we think, what we do and how we feel. CBT teaches you how to recognise and tackle problems in the here and now, rather than in the past.
Support
With support from the people in your life and maybe with a little help from other sources, such as the resources on this website, you’ll most likely find ways to cope with your eating problems. However, working through eating problems takes time. If you have concerns about your mental health more generally and think you may need further support, please get in touch with your GP in the first instance.
Here are some other sources of support you might want to consider:
- If you don’t feel able to work through the resources recommended on this website, you might want to ask your GP for a referral to your local eating disorder service. You can learn more about the NHS Lothian eating disorders website at SEEDS
- It might also be helpful to have a look at some of the other pages on this website, including the sections on:
- Computerised Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (cCBT) is a highly effective treatment for people with mild-to-moderate mental health difficulties. There are several online user-friendly programmes that NHS Lothian can provide access to. To find out more, speak with your GP, or visit the cCBT section on this website.
- Support from the eating disorder charity, Beat, may also be helpful to you: https://www.beateatingdisorders.org.uk/
- The relationship people have with food can be complicated. Everyone’s personal circumstances are different, and whilst focusing on a healthier lifestyle might be easy for some people, there are some situations where people may need more support first. If you’re finding that significant stressors, such as the care needs of loved ones, financial pressures, or your mental health are affecting your eating habits and lifestyle, you may wish to contact your GP, local social care service, or Citizens Advice Bureau: https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/
The Lothian Health and Social Care Partnership websites are also a good place to look for locally available support:
- The ‘iThrive’ website focuses on support available Edinburgh-wide
- ‘Midspace’ is Midlothian’s online source of mental health and wellbeing information
- ‘Eastspace’ is East Lothian’s online source of mental health and wellbeing information
- ‘Westspace’ is West Lothian’s online source of mental health and wellbeing information.