As we are coming to the end of eating disorder awareness week 2018, I wanted to share a very important message of hope.
Through the many years of being surrounded by eating disorders both professionally and personally, I have found that people are often afraid of eating disorders, afraid to speak about them, afraid of the what lies ahead and afraid that there is no hope. Eating disorders are a very serious mental illness which affects sufferers and their carers alike, however, just as any other mental illness they can also be beaten and the light at the end of the dark tunnel can be found.
The wonderful mental health charity SANE, asked me if I would take part in their #SANEchat on Twitter, on the 28th February, which was a great way to open-up the conversation surrounding eating disorders and ways in which we can approach them. We spoke about how you can support a loved one who may be suffering with an eating disorder, here is some of the things we mentioned:
- Communication is key – talking openly and honestly in non-judgemental way
- Taking time to listen – let them know how much you care
- Remember that the small things are important – that your friend or loved one is still the same person and that chat or text can make so much difference
- Be as patient as possible – having or supporting somebody with an eating disorder can be a challenging journey. There is always hope.
You can read the full #SANEchat here: https://storify.com/CharitySANE/eating-disorders
I am very excited to be working on the 2nd edition of my very first book, Hope with Eating Disorders, due to be published in January 2019 by Hammersmith Health Books, and really hope it will give many more people the visions that eating disorder can be beaten.
