Expert: Joanne - 12/9/2006

Question
Hi Holly,
I have an eating disorder - I restrict my food intake and often binge-eat, and I've been this way for 5 years now. I've really had enough of it and I want to recover. However, I don't know how to go about it. I've spoken to my doctor and my psychiatrist (i have major depression and an anxiety disorder too) about it, but there is no treatment available for eating disorders unless the person is diagnosed anorexic or is purgeing - and at the moment I am neither. The psychiatric services are extremely poor here, to the extent that psychiatrists aren't able to see suicidal patients for days when they need immediate help.
I don't know where else to look for help. I have no money for private help as I am too unwell to work, and also my anxiety disorder means i have a lot of difficulty talking to people I don't know. Have you any ideas for what I could do?

Answer
I think that you need to show your Dr just how bad and disabling this condition is for you!  I wouldn't put up with being fobbed off with that.  You are as entitled to treatment as someone who has been diagnosed - in fact, even more so!  At least someone who has been diagnosed is going to be watched and treated, you deserve to be put in contact with people in order to get that diagnosis!

If you really don't want to do all the fighting for treatment, I suggest looking at some of the self-help websites.  www.something-fishy.org is a good website which has discussion forums and chat rooms so that you can speak to people in a similar situation and leave posts for the others to read and give advice.  I found this site very useful during the time I wasn't receiving treatment.  It isn't like the others in that it is very closely moderated so that anything that can be taken as encouraging an eating disorder (anything triggering basically) will be dealt with quickly and either the post will be closed to replies, or completely removed.

Please give this a go and get back to me with what you think of this site.  I quite often send people there after finding it so helpful myself, but have never heard whether or not they find it useful.

All the best
Holly