Eating Disorders rise in lockdown - why?

[starfish88]

I was watching the news this morning and they said there had been an increase in the number of people suffering from eating disorders. They seemed to attribute that to the stress of the pandemic and the general crapness of now.

But there was no mention of how the splitting of shopping into 'essential' and 'non-essential' would be massively detrimental to people with eating disorders. And I'm not talking about the MN cheese in coffee, no Easter eggs, crisps on a bench brigade, I'm talking the police massively overstepping and threatening to search peoples shopping for non-essentials. news.sky.com/story/coronavirus-police-backtrack-after-chief-threatened-to-search-shoppers-trolleys-11971269 and the cordoning off of certain areas of supermarkets. It's considering baby formula 'non-essential'. If my baby isn't eating I'm sure as hell not. www.google.com/amp/s/www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8881145/amp/Mark-Drakeford-says-stores-use-discretion-non-essential-items.html

I've been recovered from anorexia for 10 years and had maintained a Bmi of 20 for all that time. This has been the first time in 10 years I have slipped into the underweight category and there is no doubt that this kind of thing has been massively unhealthy for me and probably thousands of others.

I'm not a covidiot, anti-vaxxer (having received both of my doses) and I believe some of the things the government have laid out have helped. But this policy doesn't seem to have been risk assessed for the lives it saved from covid (any at all?) vs the damage it did to people with eating disorders. And I doubt that this damage will ever really be acknowledged or resolved with the state of mental health care in the country and the waiting lists.

I guess the eating disorder thing could be linked to control? Food is one of the few things people have had control of in their lives in the last 12 months. I seriously worry about the mental health implications of this pandemic, so many people are depressed, lonely, anxious, stressed, got money troubles etc etc.....

I agree, eating disorders are all about control and the worry of the pandemic has definitely made that worse. But there has been a focus on food and labeling it as 'essential' or not is very reminiscent of labeling food 'safe' in an ED that doesn't seem to be acknowledged. I suppose feeling that the police and the government are controlling what we eat also feels like the control is being taken from us.

I agree that's its about control. My best friend and sister have both discussed with me how they have been restricting calories or obsessing over them.

On the other hand I seem to binge eat!

I think the fact that we are young (under 25) makes it worse as the job market and prospects for young people are dreadful.

I don't know if I'm fixating on that policeman then but the idea of being threatened with having my food shopping inspected to see whether it was 'essential' or not really messed me up. And I know it was retracted but there just doesn't seem to be any acknowledgement of how awful that statement was. Another example of the police overstepping and harming (generally but not exclusively) women.

I agree it's been an issue. Eating disorders are a big thing in my family for various reasons and this year has certainly meant we've had to be much more alert to issues and setbacks.

But I don't think any of the lockdown strategies are to blame for this. Eating disordered thoughts and behaviours aren't rational or reasonable. It's unfortunate that things like dividing shopping into categories exacerbated the issue (which I agree it did) but it's an issue of greater good and intent. I hope that more lives were saved by lockdown than were cost by it. It will be a long time, if ever, before we know if that is true.

I think it’s often assumed eating disorders means restricting, but I think a lot of people have binge eating/emotional eating/stress eating disorders too which have definitely been heightened in lockdown with the added factor of food and eating being one of few remaining joys allowed for a lot of people. I have had binge eating disorder for many years but only got diagnosed in the pandemic when it got too much for me to ignore.

The difficulty obtaining some foods didn’t help. Some people with eating disorders who are just coping eat a very restrictive diet relying on particular brands etc. When it became difficult to obtain certain items coupled with guilt at going into various shops to find things I think people found another way to cope which was restricting food even further.

@blameitonthecaffeine

I agree it's been an issue. Eating disorders are a big thing in my family for various reasons and this year has certainly meant we've had to be much more alert to issues and setbacks.

But I don't think any of the lockdown strategies are to blame for this. Eating disordered thoughts and behaviours aren't rational or reasonable. It's unfortunate that things like dividing shopping into categories exacerbated the issue (which I agree it did) but it's an issue of greater good and intent. I hope that more lives were saved by lockdown than were cost by it. It will be a long time, if ever, before we know if that is true.

I don't deny that lockdown has saved vastly more lives than will be lost to eating disorders as a result but I'm not sure the same can be said for locking up the 'non-essentials' in supermarkets and celophaning off whole shelves. Did that save lives?

Also I hate that we are seen as collateral damage in the fight for the 'greater good'. Whose 'greater good'? Why is a life lost to an eating disorder less valued than one lost to covid?

I thought all food and drink was essential and there were isolated incidents of police and shops overreaching on what the guidelines meant.

I agree that it’s all about the lack of control and anxiety that’s caused more people to struggle. Essential vs non essential isn’t a big issue in my view.

How often did this happen though? I've been able to buy whatever food I wanted throughout lockdown, I've never seen an aisle cordoned off, and the police have kept a very low profile.

@starfish88

Also I hate that we are seen as collateral damage in the fight for the 'greater good'. Whose 'greater good'? Why is a life lost to an eating disorder less valued than one lost to covid?

It’s the sheer numbers. At no point have eating disorders threatened to overwhelm the NHS or lead to the death of thousands of people.

That’s not to say that eating disorders aren’t important. I really hope there’ll be a major investment in mental health services now.

@Angelica789

The difficulty obtaining some foods didn’t help. Some people with eating disorders who are just coping eat a very restrictive diet relying on particular brands etc. When it became difficult to obtain certain items coupled with guilt at going into various shops to find things I think people found another way to cope which was restricting food even further.

This is very much true! I have a few safe foods which are staples in my diet and if I can’t get hold of them it’s really stressful

@PurpleDaisies

That’s not to say that eating disorders aren’t important. I really hope there’ll be a major investment in mental health services now.

Sadly that won't save those who have topped themselves during all this - of whom there have been a great many (I know of 3 myself). But, hey ho, I guess their lives don't matter.

I think it’s control, too. I wasn’t phased by the policeman and his “non essential items” thing, and it wasn’t local to me - we’ve never had taped off supermarket aisles or anything here.

But I do feel increasingly out of control with everything and I am struggling with it hugely, and food feels like one thing I can control. I’ve varied massively between rewarding myself with too much food and really restricting what I eat... it’s been a tough line, and I have no history of ED.

Sadly that won't save those who have topped themselves during all this - of whom there have been a great many (I know of 3 myself). But, hey ho, I guess their lives don't matter.

Nobody is saying that. Nobody.

Because the stress of the last year has triggered a relapse and the guilt of letting it get control of you again with the added guilt that asking for help while everyone else is dying of covid due to fear of derision from others thinking its attention seeking.

Addictive traits are very hard to manage. I sympathize. There is literally no stopping it at times and you hate that it controls you but still everyone else thinks you choose to be like that.

@PurpleDaisies

Sadly that won't save those who have topped themselves during all this - of whom there have been a great many (I know of 3 myself). But, hey ho, I guess their lives don't matter.

Nobody is saying that. Nobody.

Actions speak louder than words. Moreover, those arguing for less stringent lockdowns were never saying they did not care about old people yet that is the stick that has continually been used to beat them with to silence any meaningful debate on this issue. These things swing both ways.

Also I hate that we are seen as collateral damage in the fight for the 'greater good'. Whose 'greater good'? Why is a life lost to an eating disorder less valued than one lost to covid?

It isn't. All individual lives have equal worth. But that doesn't work when decisions have to be made to protect a whole population from a pandemic. I agree that taping off shelves probably didn't save any lives. But maybe knowing that supermarkets were only open for what was needed and not for a wander round because someone was bored did? Or maybe one person not taking a trip to a shop for one Easter Egg last year did save their life. We won't ever know.

I'm not unsympathetic to eating disorder sufferers. I had anorexia as a teenager as did my eldest daughter (she still needs some support and monitoring now as an adult). One of my younger daughters has disordered eating definitely exacerbated by Covid. So I understand where you're coming from. I just don't think that it means the overall messages and policies were wrong in trying to get things under control.

Collateral damage is an awful, heartbreaking way of putting it - but yes, there have been people who have lost their lives due to Covid restrictions rather than due to Covid. And probably not the same people who were at most risk of dying from Covid. For them and their families, obviously nothing can make that ok. But the reaction to world situation as a whole can't be based on individuals. It never has been. That's why it's seen as 'acceptable' that a tiny minority of people will inevitably die from getting a Covid vaccine.

Lack of support, both professional and family support.
Increase of anxiety and looking for something can be in control over.

Did you read the OP or just answer the question in the title?

There are lots of reasons. I don’t have an eating disorder but I have suffered with disordered eating all my life and I have to say, I’m struggling.

I don’t think it has anything to do with supermarkets condoning off sections. I think those issues were small, local misunderstandings weren’t they?

Control is the main thing. As a nation, we collectively lost control of our lives at very short notice. Food and exercise are the only things we really can control anymore.

For me, a big thing is that when I’m at home, which I am most of the time now as I’ve been stuck WFH for a year, I can see my reflection everywhere! In the mirror in the bedroom or bathrooms, in the patio doors, even in the bloody oven. And every time I see it, I take a minute to criticise myself. Sometimes I get a compulsion to stop what I’m doing and go and have a look at myself. Not in a vain way, quite the opposite. In the office, I might see myself in the mirror in the toilets at lunch time and that’s it.

Also for me, it’s a huge fear of being released from lockdown and everyone looking at me and thinking “God, she’s put on weight!”

The focus on getting your daily exercise is triggering for some people. I’m super competitive so I want to go further and do more than everyone else and than I did the day before, plus everyone’s posting their times on Strava etc for all to see.

There’s also the chance to be secretive. Family May notice what you’re eating (or not) but others won’t and plenty of parents and spouses are working harder than ever so may not notice. If you have a 15 year old daughter, say, and you’re an NHS nurse, who has been there to make sure she eats lunch during homeschooling? That’s not a criticism of the parents in anyway, it’s just circumstance. Also, the popularity of lounge wear allows you to hide your body, whether it’s getting bigger or smaller. Anorexic people will often wear baggy clothes to hide how small they are getting rather than flaunt their figure.

Of course, there are other eating disorders than anorexia and it’s not hard to see how binge eating disorder or bulimia is happening during lockdown.

It's really interesting how differently the different parts of lockdown have impacted us.

I was nowhere near where that policeman was, nor was I in Wales with the cordoned off supermarket aisles but I still found those things fueling my eating disorder. Clearly not everyone found the same things to have the same impact or got so fixated on them. But then I have a huge element of punishing myself for the various problems in the world and using food as a way to self harm. I was also doing squats like a mad thing the other day after this: www.google.com/amp/s/www.bbc.com/news/amp/world-asia-56641398

Just talking about it has made me realise how irrational it is and has truly helped. These things have been circling in my head for the best part of ayear and it's good to get them out.

A lot of the over-arching issues like control and loss of support are obviously a huge thing still but I've dealt with this for the best part of 20 years now and it's not until the pandemic that I have felt the disordered thoughts creeping back.

Control, depression, you name it.

The govermenr are taking away peoples control and personal responsibilities of their own lives. So people feel the need to take control, hence eating disorders.

The media have mis used information, scared people into submission. Everyone is fed up so its comfort eating which will lead to obesity, heart disease, diabetes and so on.

But obviously not if it is worse than Covid