Eating disorders and other mental health issues

Eating disorders almost always occur with other mental health issues. In fact, research tells us that 97 per cent of the time there are co-occurring mental health conditions. It’s always a complex situation and there are different causes for different people. In many cases, it’s difficult to tell which disorder came first.
“It's very, very unusual in my experience for people with an eating disorder to only have an eating disorder,” says Monash University Adjunct Professor Richard Newton. “By and large, co-occurring mental health issues is the rule.”
While it’s difficult to say what caused the issues to co-occur, by understanding which conditions are present and possibly interacting, clinicians are able to help the people experiencing them find a path to recovery.
Emily Unity, from Perth WA, says she was unaware of her eating disorder. “I honestly find it quite surprising to hear from a lot of people that they don't have comorbidities. I think it's more so that we're not really aware of it, or we don't have the language to talk about it. And I feel lucky enough that I do now.”
For Tim, a social worker from Newcastle NSW, it was clear that his OCD came first. He says it wasn’t until he was 21 that he developed body image issues which were amplified by his OCD. “I guess my OCD took on that as being scared of becoming overweight so I engaged in behaviours, and became obsessed with how I look.”
Korey says her eating disorder developed as a result of extreme anxiety. “I sort of developed these coping mechanisms of controlling what I ate as a means of dealing with the amount of anxiety and anxious thoughts and energy I held on to. So I sort of channelled that into the food I ate, and sort of controlling what I ate, how much I ate.”
While there are many possible mental health issues that co-occur with eating disorders Leading Mental Health researcher Professor Phillipa Hay says there are a few that co-occur more frequently “The most common are indeed anxiety disorder, social anxiety in particular, and mood disorders and depression. But everybody brings a unique experience to their eating disorder,” she says. “They are all individuals in their own capacity, and they have their own stories, their own narratives to tell. And we know that there are many common factors in those stories.”

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