[C]umbria Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (CPFT) specialist staff will be holding Live Web chats for both adults and young people during Eating disorder awareness week 26th February – 4th March.
It is estimated that 1.25 million people in the UK suffer with an eating disorder, 11% which are male. Anorexia most commonly affects girls and women, although it has become more common in boys and men in recent years. Eating disorders are therefore a growing concern and can affect anyone.
Clare Ellison, Specialist Dietician at CPFT explains “Often misunderstood, eating disorders have a variety of different presentations and risks. Each is a serious recognised mental health condition, with anorexia recognised as having the highest mortality rate of any psychiatric diagnosis. Eating disorders can affect anyone. The family of someone with an eating disorder can be a helpful part of the solution
Therefore in Eating Disorders Awareness week, professionals from the adult and children’s mental health teams from CPFT would like to open up an online web-chat/forum to help anyone with queries about eating disorders. We’d like to help answer any questions you have, provide advice and support where we can. This could be a question about yourself or a loved one, finding out about services and help available. You can choose to keep yourself anonymous”.
There are two dedicated web-chats available. The first for children and young people will be held on Wednesday 28th February 4-6pm, with the second for adults on Thursday 1st March 6-8pm. These can be accessed by clicking: www.cumbriapartnership.nhs.uk/eating-webchats
You can join us for #NEDAwareness week for the discussion about mental health and eating disorders. If you aren’t able to join the live chat you can email any questions to anis@cumbria.nhs.uk
