Contents
Introduction 7
Part 1 Making a start: What are eating disorders and do you want to recover? 9
1 What are eating disorders? 10
2 The physical and psychological effects of eating disorders 19
3 The problem with purging 31
4 What causes eating disorders? 37
5 'I'm not sure I want to stop' 44
Part 2 Problems and potential pitfalls: Issues commonly associated with eating disorders 49
6 Unhelpful thinking styles 50
7 Perfectly flawed or perfectly driven: when is perfectionism a bad thing? 58
8 Fanning the flame: dealing with anxiety 66
9 Some other common problems: self-harm, other addictions and multi-impulsive bulimia 75
Part 3 Planning your route: Starting out on the path to recovery 83
10 What is recovery and is it possible? 84
11 How to get help and handle treatment 99
12 About food and eating 111
Part 4 Supporting your child on the path to recovery: A section for parents 119
13 Information and advice for parents 120
14 Supporting a child on the path to recovery: some real-life accounts 136
Further support 144