How to be mindful of people living with eating disorders this festive season.

There is a lot of discussion when planning Christmas about food, and eating too much. How difficult are those conversations for people who have an eating disorder?

“James, those conversations are extremely difficult for people with an eating disorder. They are triggers, and that’s what makes the holiday season so particularly challenging for people with eating disorders, listening to people discussing their diet plans after Christmas, people commenting on appearance, talking about how they might need to get fit in the New Year. These are all triggers. That of course puts pressure on the families as well because they are watching these conversations take place and they’re trying to shield their loved one with an eating disorder from them,” Jane Rowan, EDFA Executive Director

Leah, I want to bring you in now. What’s your own personal experience?

“My daughter has an eating disorder, but she’s in very active recovery now so we’re in a much better place.

“It’s a really tough time. Any festive environment is difficult because there is so much talk around body image at this time of year. You do have to manage that as a carer,” Leah Ward, EDFA Member

Give us a sense, when you talk about tough times, so we can bring in people who don’t have have this personal experience, what kinds of things would you face?

“A person with an eating disorder has a lot of noise in their head, that’s a good starting point. And gatherings are noisy and busy and very much focussed around food and connection, but the noise and business and discussions around food, diets, exercise comments are difficult and triggering for someone with an eating disorder. To support somebody with an eating disorder, it would be the most traumatic and difficult thing I’ve done in my life. To get through that in festive times you really do need the support of everybody around you, and you really do need to censor some of the conversations.” Leah Ward

So you need to give everybody a heads up?

“Absolutely. I’ve been very known to do that.  Even just preventing those comments that are being made, or to give eye contact to someone who may be about to say something that might trigger a bad reaction is helpful.”

Jane, if you’re a parent or a loved one and you suspect someone in your family has an eating disorder, how do you broach that topic? Do you wait until after Christmas? How do you grapple with it?

“I’m not a medical practitioner obviously, James, but my advice would be to seek help as soon as you can. The sooner you get started on the eating disorder recovery journey the greater the chance you’ll actually succeed.. The longer we leave it the harder it becomes – it becomes more intractable. So early intervention is crucial.”

And the fact that a million Australians might be dealing with some kind of eating disorder, Jane? That’s just startling. And we know that a lot of people have not been able to get the help they need because of the scarcity of professionals at the moment.

“Yes it’s very difficult at the moment. I’m not sure what the solution is, but we definitely need to increase awareness and we need to make sure that people can get help as soon as they can.”

Jane, if you could leave us with one piece of advice for viewers watching today what would that be?

“To really just be aware that you might be going to a gathering this holiday season where someone is living with an eating disorder and you might not be aware of it. So just be mindful of those conversations, that’s a really big key point. And if you are aware that someone is living with an eating disorder, offer to help that family. Ask them what they need. Ask them what you can do to support them during that time”.

To help EDFA provide its support service to carers during the holiday season,

you can make a donation here.