What information do I need ?

Here is the link to a very helpful Australian Document from Mental Health First Aid Guidelines for Eating Disorders..

.. . . . . . ."this is one of the best brochures I've seen for people worried about Eating Disorders.." Dr Michelle
Williams Staff Specialist Paediatrician, Royal Hobart Hospital.

Are you a Mum with an Eating Disorder and worried about your child and how to explain your illness?
This document How Can I Help My Mum? produced by a British Eating Disorder Organisation, B-EAT may  help you and your child.  

Do you think you may have an Eating Disorder and need more information? Go to Eating Disorder information page by clicking here.

Are you worried about someone who may have an Eating Disorder?

How can you tell if someone's eating behaviour and attidude towards food is more serious than just '"being on a diet"?

Here are some pointers that distinguish Normal Dieting from Eating Disorder Symptoms.

• Denial of diet - dieters talk about it all the time
• Change in food rules e.g. becoming vegetarian
• Denial of hunger and craving
• Covering up the weight loss, possibly by wearing baggy clothes
• Increased interest in food - cooking for others, scouring recipes books,supermarket shelf gazing and 
• calorie counting

• Claims of needing to eat less than others or only very small portions
• Eating slowly, with small mouthfuls
• Avoiding eating with others, e.g. the excuse of having eaten already or eaten elsewhere

• Behaviour becoming more compulsive and ritulalised - cleaning, tidying,organising, washing etc.
• Becoming isolated and low in mood
• Frequenlty disappearing to the bathroom - during meals and after.  The smell of vomit or excessive use of air fresheners about the house
• A new or increased exercise routine - strict, rigid and gruelling.

    Click here for recommended reading for carers.

From Skills-based Learning for Caring for a Loved One with an Eating Disorder by Treasure, Smith and Crane.