Health and Wellbeing
Importance of Early Intervention of Eating Disorders/Eating Difficulties
An eating disorder gets harder to treat the longer it goes on, which is why an adult who notices early can make such a difference.
- 18 minutes
- 1 module
- 0.5 CPD hours
- Certificate
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If you need help now
- If someone is in danger, call 999.
- For urgent mental health help, call NHS 111.
- Samaritans: call 116 123, any time.
- Shout: text SHOUT to 85258.
- Childline (for children and young people): 0800 1111.
- Papyrus HOPELINEUK (suicide, under 35s): 0800 068 4141.
What you'll learn
- Explain why early help leads to better recovery and more treatment options
- Describe the eating disorder cycle and how behaviours become entrenched
- Understand why a young person may deny they're unwell or resist help
- Recognise physical warning signs such as fainting, dizziness and feeling cold
- Encourage parents and carers to seek specialist support
About this course
Eating disorders have one of the highest death rates of any mental illness, yet the outlook for recovery is good when someone gets help early. The longer the illness goes on, the more entrenched the behaviours become and the harder treatment gets.
Understanding why helps you act sooner. The eating disorder cycle shows how it happens: a young person restricts or binges to cope with a difficult feeling, guilt and shame follow, their food rules get broken, and round it goes again. That cycle is also why a young person may deny anything is wrong, because the illness can feel like the one thing keeping them going.
If you want the medical detail, you'll understand what starvation and purging do to the heart, gut, brain and hormones, and why dizziness, fainting and feeling cold matter. That knowledge helps when you're encouraging parents and carers to look for specialist support.
- For early career teachers, middle leaders and 4 other roles. Secondary.
1 module
- 19 min
Importance of early intervention of eating disorders/eating difficulties