My Son or Daughter Has an Eating Disorder: What to Do?

An eating disorder or eating disorder is a persistent pattern of unhealthy eating behavior. These patterns are associated with emotional, social and physical discomfort.

EDs occur regardless of the gender, race or age of the person who suffers from them, although there are more vulnerable groups, such as during adolescence. In this article we will focus on the behaviors that we, as family members, friends and acquaintances, we can control in preventing an eating disorder in the vulnerable person of our environment.

Risk behaviors

Certain things must be taken into account behaviors that, unconsciously and without bad intention, we can have as family members and that help people at risk of suffering from an eating disorder to develop it. These behaviors are especially negative from 5-6 years of age, and may be:

1. Jokes, mockery or disapproval about the child’s body or way of eating

This may seem innocent, but can help start or aggravate body dissatisfaction, causing the person to begin to not be comfortable with their body. This is especially important at ages in which self-esteem is not fully developed and support figures are an almost indisputable reference.

2. The presence of fathers or mothers who are very concerned about their figure

That is to say, fathers or mothers following restrictive diets to control weight (without medical justifications to do so). This is because minors learn, among other ways, by watching how others act. That is, they have models to follow and imitate. If the closest attachment figures go on diets to lose weight and it is synonymous with beauty and approval, why would it be different with them?

General guidelines to follow in the family environment

If we already find that we have a family member with eating disorders at home, the best thing we can do is collect some guidelines to be able to better handle this situation and reduce it or not aggravate it:

Are you looking for psychotherapeutic assistance?

Carrying out psychological therapy Adequate treatment along with physical health reviews will help the person with eating disorders restore their quality of life.

Despite these guidelines, each person is different and not everything will work the same, it will depend on the circumstances that surround us. Therefore, if you need help understanding or learning to manage a family member’s eating disorder, PsychoAlmería we can help you.

We have health psychologists with experience in the psychological approach to eating disorders.