What are eating disorders?

Anyone can get an eating disorder. Eating disorders are difficult and painful illnesses to live with, but sufferers can still find it hard to ‘choose recovery’. The disorder has often developed as a way of ‘coping’ with problems and stress. To beat the illness, you need to learn new and positive ways of dealing with difficult issues in your life.

 Eating Disorders are not just about food but how we feel. An eating disorder, whether anorexia, bulimia or binge eating, makes the individual turn nourishment of the body into a powerful attack on their own self. At the core there are far deeper issues than mere vanity.
 
Focusing energy on controlling weight/body image becomes a way of coping with a situation that someone may find unbearable. This progresses and gradually becomes a coping mechanism for dealing with everyday situations.
 
Eating disorders provoke powerful emotions of guilt, blame and an overwhelming sense of failure, and can result in intense suffering.
 
The victims and their families often display incredible courage in the face of this intense suffering and we hope to help you understand and overcome a very distressing condition.
 
At First Steps anyone who feels that food is a problem in their or their loved one’s lives is welcome to attend.