How does the desire to feel accepted, loved and acknowledged translate to the deadly behaviours of starvation and purging? Or when the need to fulfil these elements becomes so intense, the prospect of eating produces fear and distress?
These are the harsh realities of an individual living with an eating disorder - One of the most misunderstood and mismanaged diseases in society today.
As a parent, it can be extremely distressing to see your child drastically lose weight, refuse to eat and participate in bizarre behaviours.
Your first instinct may be to tell them the obvious, that they are not fat or are beautiful the way they are, or try to apply your logic to their behaviour.
These are the natural tendencies of caring parents who seek to support and manage their child’s disorders.
Unfortunately, tendencies such as these fail to address the underlying issues and may only worsen the condition by creating distance between you and your child.
In light of this, how does one effectively support a child caught in the grips of an eating disorder?
To answer this, we must first turn towards the exact nature of Eating Disorders and how they can impose such debilitating consequences on a victim.
Eating disorders are behavioural conditions associated with distressing thoughts and emotions that drive abnormal eating behaviours.
For many, Eating Disorders are thought of as psychological conditions that influence dietary processes and food intake. However, this only captures a small proportion of the nature of eating disorders - The reality is much more solemn than most people think.
To understand Eating Disorders, we must delve deeper to identify the underlying pathology that drives the dysfunctional eating behaviours in teenagers today.
The common misconception about Eating Disorders is that they revolve around food and physical appearance. Certainly, there is an element of truth to this, but the psychological pathology goes much deeper than these surface elements.
An Eating Disorder, at its root, is the presence of acute emotional distress that manifests in eating-related behaviours. Put simply, symptoms surrounding food and physicality are merely outward expressions of deep-rooted emotional issues which may have been caused by factors including childhood trauma, parental conflict, difficulties coping, or trouble at school.
Considering this, combating Eating Disorders demands that we address the root causes of emotional dysfunction while equally being aware of their eating-related behaviours.
This is one critical notion that we hope to promote at Lions Campus, as we receive many increasing amounts of fellows that have been unable to cope with the persistent stigma that obstructs their recovery.
In this context, recovery is not centred on forcing victims to eat or restricting them from participating in pathological behaviours. Instead, it is through creating bridges and establishing an open environment where the victim can bring their deep-rooted issues to the surface and confront them alongside supportive hands.
At Lions Campus, we recognise that many of our victims with Eating Disorders face various accompanying issues that drive their symptoms and behaviours. Ultimately, we tackle these terrible diseases by broadening our awareness of the problem and addressing it in its entirety.
Now, will you help break the stigma and bring positive change to our youths in urgent need of support?
Please visit https://www.lions-campus.co.uk/ to learn more.
