Eating Disorders

Why People With Eating Disorders Are Often Obsessed With Food

Lorraine Pascale, a chef and regular guest on the BBC’s cooking programme, Saturday Kitchen, recently admitted that she struggled with an eating disorder. For many, it would seem counter-intuitive that a person with an eating disorder would spend so much time around food. But an obsession with food is often linked with eating disorders, highlighting [...]

More Teens Than Ever Before Meet The Criteria For Having Mental Health Issues

Nearly 1 in 4 Australian teenagers meet the criteria for having a "probable serious mental illness", a joint report from Mission Australia and the Black Dog Institute has found. The Five Year Mental Health Youth Report presented findings from the past five Mission Australia youth surveys, during which thousands of adolescents answered questions on several [...]

Anorexia Leaves Lasting Changes In The Brain, Even After Treatment

Even after weeks of treatment and considerable weight gain, the brains of adolescent patients with anorexia nervosa remain altered, putting them at risk for possible relapse. The study, published last week in the American Journal of Psychiatry, examined 21 female adolescents before and after treatment for anorexia and found that their brains still had an [...]

Young Women Are Now A ‘High-risk Group’ For Mental Illness

Psychological distress in women aged 16-24 is at an all-time high, with record numbers admitting to harming themselves to relieve their distress, according to an alarming study. Experts say young women are now a “high-risk group” and point to links between mental illness and violence or sexual abuse, and possible pressures from the rise of [...]

Orthorexia Warning Signs: New Year’s Resolutions Can Trigger Eating Disorders

People all over the world will be forming goals for the new year through the rest of December, seeking to improve themselves once the clock strikes 2017. Some of the most popular resolutions are health-oriented, including going to the gym more often and eating better, which can spell trouble for people struggling to overcome eating [...]

Why Reducing Advice To A BMI Number Is Hurting Our Health

Flickr Images "You're overweight, borderline obese." This was what Christopher was told when he attended his corporate health check. The person conducting the check went on to suggest that he take a look at his diet and perhaps think about healthy options. While they didn't come out and say "you need to lose [...]

Clean Eating Trend Can Be Dangerous For Young People, Experts Warn

Flickr Images Mental health experts are warning of the risks of the increasingly popular “clean eating” dietary trend, which is leaving a growing number of teenagers very thin and even at risk of dying when taken to extremes. One nutritionist said she had been contacted by a girl as young as 12 and [...]

‘Selfie Culture’ Puts Young Women At Highest ‘Mental Health Risk’

Pixabay Images Soaring numbers of young women are suffering mental health problems and self-harm as a “selfie culture” heaps pressures on girls, new research suggests. More than one quarter of women aged between 16 and 24 are suffering from symptoms of common mental health problems, such as anxiety and depression, according to a [...]

It’s Never Been Easy Being A Teenager. But Is This Now A Generation In Crisis?

Image: Mark Mawson/Getty Mollycoddled and cosseted or stressed and over-pressured. Energised and engaged or bored and turned off. Young people have so many labels and stereotypes slapped on them it’s a wonder these are not visible on their endless selfies. What is undeniably true is that the evidence suggests that rates of depression, [...]

I Finally See That Calorie Counting Worked Against Me

Pixabay Images Puberty had hit me hard. My body wasn't changing, it had changed – I just woke up one morning to find stretch marks and curves. I no longer looked like my friends, in fact I stuck out like a sore thumb. Once my mum found me crying. I hated my body. I [...]

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