Eating disorders are often misunderstood, but earlier treatment improves outcomes. Let’s dispel some myths, learn how to recognize eating disorders and what to do if someone you love is struggling.
More time spent on social media can leave young adults feeling worse about their bodies.
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Boys, LGBTQ youth and people with normal body mass index are often overlooked when it comes to recognizing eating disorders, a physician and psychotherapist explain.
By integrating parents and other family members in therapy, young people will have more consistent support between the therapist’s office and their home.
Data from around the world, including Australia, indicate the pandemic has made things more difficult for people with eating disorders for a variety of reasons.
As Australia considers its next national mental health survey, it’s crucial to include eating disorders. If we don’t have good data on how many people are suffering, we can’t come up with solutions.
New research has found several physical and mental health indicators that often appear before an eating disorder diagnosis.
People with anorexia nervosa often see themselves as overweight when in fact they are not. This image depicts a young, thin woman who sees herself as larger than she is.
Tatyana Dzemileva/Shutterstock.com
Stuart Murray, University of California, San Francisco
Anorexia nervosa can be a deadly disease. A recent analysis of several studies showed that it may be even harder to treat than previously believed. But the news isn’t all bad.
Is the scale telling the truth?
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A new study explores whether how we perceive our body weight affects our prospects in the job market and at work.
Research shows that Instagram photos tagged with #eatingdisorderrecovery tend to feature thin, young, white, women. They also show stylized versions of food, reflecting a certain class status and engagement with “foodie” cultures.
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Instagram can offer a supportive online community to people recovering from eating disorders. It can also reinforce stereotypes of eating disordered bodies.
New research shows that even previously obstructive parents can be coached into providing vital support for their children with eating disorders.
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A new psychological intervention can help any parents - even those crippled by fear and self-blame - to become powerful recovery coaches to children with eating disorders.
Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt has asked the Medicare review taskforce to consider increasing the number of subsidised mental health sessions for those with eating disorders. Why is that necessary?
Shadow Minister for Climate Change and Energy Mark Butler told Q&A that eating disorders “are the mental illness type which has the highest mortality rate”. We check the research.
Many not only feel dissatisfied with their bodies, they actually believe they are heavier than they really are.
from shutterstock.com
Staring at one thing for a long time can cause you to see the next thing in the opposite fashion. This neural adaptation could be the underlying physiological basis of body-size misperception.
Anorexia is often seen as an assertion of autonomy and control by a young woman who is engaged in a battle with her family and therapists.
Mary Lock/Flickr
Young women (and men) have been dramatically restricting their calorie intake for centuries, but not all the symptoms of modern anorexia have always been present.