Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 19, 2014 21:44:54 GMT
I'm curious to what made those of you who have ever received treatment for your ED seek help in the first place.
Did you do it of your own accord? Were you encouraged/made to by a relative or friend? Or did you get so ill you felt you had to?
I'm asking because I haven't, ever. It is the one thing I have never spoken to a professional about, not even in passing, even though at one point I was regularly purging for two years. I'm not sure why. There's just something that makes me feel like my eating issues should be secret. I don't know what.
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Post by grayoliv on Jan 21, 2014 17:43:51 GMT
Seeking help for me was taken out of my hands by my family
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Post by Helen on Jan 21, 2014 19:30:44 GMT
I used to purge a lot and despite mentioning it to GPs and psychiatrists I was never given treatment for it. Unfortunately it's biting me in the ass now because I have severe acid reflux problems.
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Post by Rebecca92 on Jan 22, 2014 20:23:53 GMT
My ED started in October (2010) at university and by the time it came around to the beginning of January 2011 I was absolutely exhausted. I'd been heavily restricting and, though before Christmas I had considered asking for some help from the medical profession, I didn't consider myself 'thin enough' to be taken seriously and was terrified of being dismissed as 'a phase' or something.
It was the support of my boyfriend that helped me make the decision and he spoke to me on the phone before and my GP appointment (as he couldn't be there) where I admitted I had a problem with my eating. I provided them all the stats on how I much I had weighed in October and they weighed me that day - I was probably a little obsessive about it tbh. From that appointment I was referred to my local ED service and in the waiting time I continued to lose some more weight.
My assessment with an ED psychiatrist was 24th March (I remember these dates haaha) and I was diagnosed with Anorexia.. My boyfriend came with me into that appointment which was really useful. He held my hand and calmed my nerves just by being there. It was actually at the stage that if I hadn't had an appointment then, my family were going to book an appointment with the GP and drag me there because they were so worried.
I wanted to keep my ED a secret but at that point it was hugely obvious and really making me physically and mentally exhausted. I think that the first admission of needing help was the hardest, my boyfriend had been nagging me to get help for several months. So I think really it's a combination of being really ill and the support of friends and family.
At the moment though it's a bit different because I am secretly purging pretty much everyday and have been for several months. I get asked about my ED by doctors and I state that "it's not that bad" when in reality I guess it probably is. When I tried to get some help this year (I'm now back from uni and in another county/NHS trust) I was denied help because I was in DBT therapy for my BPD and bipolar 2. So... that time I think it was because I knew, logically, I should make someone aware of my situation as no one around me, until I just posted this to you lot, has any idea.
Sorry that's long but I hope it's been of some help <3
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Post by ellief on Jan 25, 2014 21:49:26 GMT
My youth worker found out, and along with my self harming, informed my parents and accompanied me to a GP who referred me to CAMHS, who told me I wasn't ill and did nothing. (age 12)
My parents got fed up of me throwing up after meals do forced me to the GP again who referred me to CAMHS again, who told me they'd put me on a waiting list and call me every week to see how I was, and I never heard from them again. (age 16).
I became unconscious for 40 minutes whilst on a youth camp the year leading up to uni, so my parents stopped me going, as it was due to my weight and lack of eating. I refused to see anyone because I had decided CAMHS were shit. Managed to stabalise myself for a year.
January last year I started losing weight again and lost 1/3 of my body weight and kept fainting and having panic attacks. Was fainting between 10 and 30 times some days due to lack of food and continuous panic and hyperventilation, wasnt allowed out of the house. (by this point my parents had kicked me out and I was living with friends). Seeked help with support from a close friend, got diagnosed with BPD and an eating disorder to this day have been turned down by eating disorders services or any therapy, although at one point was threatened with a tube. Still fighting to get some help. Im in the system, but not getting help yet apparently, 9 months in. Sorry if this isn't helpful, but it's accurate for MH in Somerset!
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tim
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Post by tim on Mar 29, 2014 22:48:26 GMT
About 10 years ago I used to binge eat / secret eat my son caught me he was about 9 at the time and he had some chocolate mouse pots in the fridge I eat the lot I couldn't stop myself it really upset him to see me eating them like that that's when I knew I had to do something obviously things had gone missing in the fridge before yoghurts chocolate chocolate mousse pots nobody could account where they had disappeared to my ex wife was going mad didn't know where everything was disappearing to any a friend of friend new a man was a doctor and a vet and he did alternative medicine he gave me acupuncture and after about 12 months I had lost the urge I do have some relapses it was a gradual process and he said when you have an urge he just said count to a hundred and read a book or do something else to take the mind away from eating I hope this account helps somebody else
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antipsych
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I'm recovering without the mental health services
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Post by antipsych on Apr 5, 2014 4:19:50 GMT
I do not want to (and will not) seek treatment for my eating disorder (or other disorders), nor a diagnosis as I believe it would be detrimental to my future, is there any other recommendations that do not involve mental health services, especially not psychiatry/psychiatrists? I have been fighting to stay away from the mental health services for years and have so far been successful. I do not want this to change
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Post by BethH on Apr 5, 2014 7:06:44 GMT
I do not want to (and will not) seek treatment for my eating disorder (or other disorders), nor a diagnosis as I believe it would be detrimental to my future, is there any other recommendations that do not involve mental health services, especially not psychiatry/psychiatrists? I have been fighting to stay away from the mental health services for years and have so far been successful. I do not want this to change May I ask why you feel seeking treatment would be detrimental to you? I personally think that untreated mental health disorders will have a far worse impact on your quality of life than trying to get help ever would.
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antipsych
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I'm recovering without the mental health services
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Post by antipsych on Apr 5, 2014 8:54:21 GMT
I do not want to (and will not) seek treatment for my eating disorder (or other disorders), nor a diagnosis as I believe it would be detrimental to my future, is there any other recommendations that do not involve mental health services, especially not psychiatry/psychiatrists? I have been fighting to stay away from the mental health services for years and have so far been successful. I do not want this to change May I ask why you feel seeking treatment would be detrimental to you? I personally think that untreated mental health disorders will have a far worse impact on your quality of life than trying to get help ever would. I personally do not approve of the methods used by the mental health services, particularly psychiatric services, to keep victims (yes, psychiatric service users are often victims of abuses such as blackmail and coercion), I tolerate counsellors and therapists themselves but as everything is controlled by the psychiatrists (access to services, diagnosis of disorders, prescription of their poisonous drugs and forced hospitalisations are all controlled by psychiatrists), I will not see them. I believe that the 'help' and 'treatments' provided by the psychiatric services are incompatible with my needs, and once diagnosed with a mental disorder, the psychs are very likely to become involved (nothing anyone can do, accept their 'care' and get drugged and locked up or refuse their 'care' and still get drugged and locked up, if THEY want to, disregarding all human rights laws, local laws and international laws, ethical guidelines also get disregarded). As for what they DO once they have you (forced druggings, feedings and restraint? Keeping you on a closed ward?) No, just no. Add to that the increased difficulties to travel and get a job if treated in a psychiatric hospital, even more no. I will not risk my future in that way. I am reasonably stable without them and I am pretty sure I will become unstable if they force their way into my life
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Post by Helen on Apr 6, 2014 10:33:27 GMT
For eating disorders I would advise contacting Beat who are one of the main charities dealing with eating disorders.
I do think that sometimes the prescription of drugs can be done irresponsibly (I've experienced it) but I also think that they have an incredibly valuable role to play in helping with mental health. Without the drugs I was given after hours of deliberation I would not be recovering in the way that I am.
If you are planning to avoid seeing doctors I can only really suggest various charities like Beat and Mind and counselling services. I do hope they can help you.
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antipsych
Newbie
I'm recovering without the mental health services
Posts: 17
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Post by antipsych on Apr 6, 2014 11:19:05 GMT
For eating disorders I would advise contacting Beat who are one of the main charities dealing with eating disorders. I do think that sometimes the prescription of drugs can be done irresponsibly (I've experienced it) but I also think that they have an incredibly valuable role to play in helping with mental health. Without the drugs I was given after hours of deliberation I would not be recovering in the way that I am. If you are planning to avoid seeing doctors I can only really suggest various charities like Beat and Mind and counselling services. I do hope they can help you. Wouldn't b-eat and mind just recommend doctors? And I'm very wary of counselling services as having read the confidentiality policies of several, they all seemingly have the beach of confidentiality clause that would inevitably lead to the involvement of the psychiatric services. I believe the risks of drugs will almost always (or, most likely, always) outweigh the benefits, as the drugs only smother the symptoms not treat the cause or underlying condition. IMO drugs are hateful dangerous money-making fraudulent psychotropic agents
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Post by Helen on Apr 6, 2014 12:10:56 GMT
You won't know unless you ask. They have to have clauses to help them protect people who cannot protect themselves or who are a danger to themselves or others. There is no way a counselling service could operate without that condition. Mostly they don't have to use it though.
If mental health difficulties are due to trauma or things in a person's life then yes, I agree with you. But then they can be used as an aid with therapy to help someone move on. However, from my experience my illness is chemical and that's why drugs are effective in my case.
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Post by BethH on Apr 6, 2014 14:28:53 GMT
Another option is trying a self help book, which you'd probably be able to find on Amazon or similar websites.
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