Cost of Living Crisis and Eating Disorders….The Debate That Can’t Stay Hidden
Eating Disorders in Discussion, Wednesday's ChildShow Notes
For all the discussion and debate on the media right now about the cost of living, the price of food, and the fear about heating our homes, there may be many of you who’ve silently thought ‘what about me and how it affects my eating disorder’.
Perhaps you’re a parent or carer of someone whose binge behaviours put huge strain on the household bills. Perhaps you’re someone recently out of treatment for a restrictive eating disorder, and now petrified about spending money on food – which is exactly the medicine your body needs. Or maybe your poorly state of health is already compromised enough, and now you’re worrying you’ll be even colder and less able to manage the winter period, if you struggle to afford your energy costs?
These are real issues, and they need talking about.
Sarah and Debbie use this episode to inject both some reality and humour into the complex situation around eating disorders and the cost of living crisis.
We also share one particular contribution from a listener kind enough to email with her thoughts.
If you’d like to tell us about your story or comment on the episode, please email [email protected]
More from Eating Disorders in Discussion, Wednesday's Child
In this episode, Abi Reynolds, who has often shared her experiences of an eating disorder on the Wednesday’s Child podcast, talks about featuring in a very special exhibition in London. The project has been led by the Maternal Mental Health Alliance – an organisation Wednesday’s Child is proud to be involved with. Abi was one of a number of women selected to share their story about the true reality of pregnancy and early motherhood. Her story, as some of you will know from your loyal listening here on this channel, is one of absolute fear, heartache and frustration – having been through an eating disorder during and beyond pregnancy. The podcast chat sees Abi sharing information about the exhibition, but also extends into a longer chat with Debbie about the issues around maternal mental health and a lack of education specifically related to eating disorders. And of course, this makes it a perfect time for us to plug that, should you or your colleagues or known maternal health teams in your region, need some education – we at Wednesday’s Child would be pleased to help. Abi and our team conduct training sessions, calling upon their lived experience. Get in touch by emailing [email protected] NOTE: We are no long providing online downloadable courses at the moment, so deliver webinar versions bespoke to your organisation, or in person as requested. Find out more about the exhibition at: https://maternalmentalhealthalliance.org/get-involved/this-is-also-motherhood/
When should you return to exercise – if indeed you would like to? How do you make sure you’re choosing to increase your movement for the right reasons? How do you hold yourself accountable and remain safe, without threating eating disorder recovery progress? Debbie chats with Sarah Parker for this latest episode of the Wednesday’s Child podcast. They discuss motivations, considerations and why it’s always so important to keep ‘checking in’ with yourself to discover why you’re truly seeking to ‘move more’. While not everyone who has an eating disorder experiences compulsive exercise behaviours, we know it is a factor for a large number of people. This episode is aimed at helping you reconsider the approach to a return to movement, and to encourage you to take a different mindset to why we might wish to have exercise in our lives again. This episode is also useful to parents and carers who want to gently navigate how to manage the desire of a loved one to increase exercise. Stay in touch by emailing us at [email protected]
Debbie is joined by Sarah Parker, eating disorders therapist, to discuss the ‘all in’ route to recovery. Many people elect to consider ‘all in’ as a way of more speedily exiting the world of an eating disorder, but not everyone finds it to be an approach they can manage. It certain is a pathway which requires a great deal of contemplation, support from others, and some robust medical observation at points in the journey. In this episode, Sarah kindly shares not only her therapy insights, but her own personal experience of having opted to go ‘all in’. She talks openly about why it’s so important to be ready for the conflict between speedier weight restoration, vs the longer journey toward complete healthy cognition. If you are considering ‘all in’, remember that your unique eating disorder circumstances will inform whether this is right for you, and what approach you might want to take. We would always encourage anyone adopting this route to have a good support tribe around them as they go through the process, but also that you have a practice nurse or GP on side to help observe bloods and other vitals – preventing any adverse implications as you restore weight. Please do let us know if you’ve tried ‘all in’ and how it worked for you. You can contact us directly by emailing [email protected]
In this latest episode from the Wednesday’s Child podcast, Debbie chats to therapist and author Sally Baker. Sally has decades of experience in writing books and carrying out 121 therapy, predominantly related to relationships with food and body. She’s a master in unpicking the idea that eating disorders need just be seen as ‘a matter of food’. In this conversation, she talks candidly about how we really don’t need to stay stuck in the place in which we find ourself. Indeed, she gives us all hope that FULL recovery is truly possible. Debbie and Sally talk about releasing yourself from negative voices, and changing your ‘dance’ and the music to which you dance to. She’ll share with you a brilliant ‘marble exercise’ for teaching you how toxic negative thoughts become. Sally will be back for another episode very soon, and has graciously committed to a webinar for Wednesday’s Child in a few months’ time. You can get in touch about such events by emailing [email protected]
Do eating disorders often co-exist with neurodivergence? Is it more likely, that you’ll have an eating disorder if you’re neurodiverse?