15year old daughter using food as way of control

[Oaklands1]

Over the last year my 15year old daughter has been using food as a control measure. When she gets stressed, upset, worried or anxious she either eats a minimal amount or nothing at all. This can last days, the longest has been 6 days when her boyfriend broke up with her. She is aware this is not normal and that she should eat. We have been to the GP who referred us to our local CAMH team. We saw them last week for an initial assessment. Their conclusion was that she has lost her relationship with food and that when she feels out of control emotionally she can control the foods he eats. They have put her on the waiting list to see a counsellor but an appointment could take 6-8 months. My worry is her GCSE's are 12 weeks away, a super stressed time and that it all becomes too much again and I have her not eating. Anybody got any advice what either she can do or I can do as Mum to help her through this. Think she needs to find some other coping strategy rather than food.

all true, but I wonder if a good short term strategy would be to convince her to get very routine about her food. Make good regular food such a regular habit that it becomes a comfort and would be too unpleasant to change too much.

Worth a try?

Thanks for reply. We do make mealtimes a routine. My husband is away during the week so I make a point of sitting and eating with her and her older brother and younger sister.
Think we need other strategies to replace the food issue. Have thought about exercise or yoga but not sure what's best. She does get fidgety easily so finds it hard to relax.

If you have gone as far as camhs, with a stressful exam time coming up, it might be worth her seeing a private therapist a few times to help her with alternative strategies, this will also mean that someone professional is keeping an eye on her and how she is coping, even if it's not every week. Otherwise its a lot of pressure on your relationship and Camhs waiting times are longer than ever. I am single parent and it was a stretch for us financially, but its good to have someone outside of camhs involved when my DD suffered severe depression. Young Minds website might be helpful ?

depends if you have spare money - i agree that if you have the cash would be worth paying for counselling.

also you could think about hypnotherapy for de stressing, look up some other techniques for de-stressing. you could buy some nice oils from the body stop, some incense? pamper weekend just you and her at a spa

if you think she is partial to believe in spiritual things - perhaps reiki

I don't believe in it - but thats not the point, if she does, thats what counts

i downloaded some ocean sounds to help me sleep when i was stressed, plug in my earphones and the repetitive rhythm helped me to nod off