A leading provider of eating disorder treatment in Birmingham

Eating disorders are chronic mental health conditions that are characterised by individuals having an overwhelming obsession with their appearance, body shape and weight, which causes them to develop severely disrupted eating habits, and interact with food in unhealthy ways. The destructive behaviours that are associated with eating disorder may include:

• Drastically limiting the amount of food that they eat
• Eating excessive amounts of food in one sitting
• Engaging in unhealthy behaviours to influence food and weight e.g. induced vomiting, laxative abuse, excessive exercise
• A combination of the above

These behaviours can have a hugely detrimental effect on individuals’ mental and physical wellbeing, and for some people, can even be fatal.

Our eating disorder specialists in Birmingham are able to provide high quality outpatient treatment for the most common types of eating disorder, as well as those that are more atypical in nature. These include:

Anorexia nervosa – people with anorexia typically have an obsession with being as thin as possible, an irrational fear of gaining weight, and a dramatically distorted body image, which causes them to believe that they are fat when other people say that they aren’t.Anorexia sufferers try to achieve their low body weight by engaging in a range of unhealthy behaviours such as starving themselves, abusing laxatives, exercising excessively, and making themselves vomit.

Anorexia is most common in young women between the ages of 14 and 25 years old. However, it is possible for anorexia to develop in anyone, despite their gender, age or background.

Bulimia nervosa – bulimia is a complex eating disorder that causes sufferers to regularly overeat (known as binge eating), followed by engaging in harmful ‘purging’ behaviours, such as abusing laxatives or making themselves sick after meals, in order to try and control their weight. These binge-purge cycles are often triggered by anxiety, stress or hunger, and because the cycles don’t result in dramatic weight fluctuations, people with bulimia often appear to be a ‘normal’ size and weight, which can make this eating disorder very difficult to spot.

Bulimia can affect males and females of any age, but it is more common amongst girls and women between the ages of 15 and 25 years old.

BED – BED causes people to regularly eat huge amounts of food in one sitting (binge eating), even when they aren’t hungry. However, unlike bulimia, BED sufferers don’t demonstrate any purging behaviours after their bingeing episodes and therefore, these individuals are likely to gain weight as a result of their constant overeating. This can lead to people struggling with BED to become obese which, in turn, can result in additional health complications.

Research indicates that BED affects both males and females equally, and has been found to be more common between the ages of 20 and 40 years old.

OSFED – OSFED, also referred to as ‘atypical eating disorders’, are characterised by some of the features of anorexia, bulimia and BED, but they do not meet the exact requirements that are needed to receive a formal diagnosis of one of these eating disorders. An individual may have OSFED if they display the following:

• Having a low body weight, but one that isn’t low enough to be diagnosed with anorexia
• Engaging in binge eating and/or purging behaviours, but on an infrequent basis
• Having an obsession with weight, appearance and body shape, but no other symptoms
• Being extremely underweight as a woman, but menstruation (periods) still take place

Many people who have OSFED have struggled with anorexia, bulimia or BED in the past, or may go on to be diagnosed with one of these eating disorders in the future.

Outpatient eating disorder treatment in Birmingham comprises a range of treatment techniques, all of which are evidence-based and recovery-focused. We are able to provide:

• Eating disorder therapy delivered in a number of different formats including:
  • 1:1 therapy
  • Couples therapy
• A variety of tried and tested therapies that have been found to be effective in the treatment of eating disorders:
  • Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT)
  • Psychodynamic counselling
  • Solution-focused approaches

You can read more about eating disorder treatment on our approach to eating disorder treatment page.

Our highly skilled eating disorder treatment team have a wealth of clinical expertise in treating these complex conditions, and ensure that their practice adheres to National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines. We are dedicated to delivering a comprehensive programme of outpatient care to each of our eating disorder patients, and use evidence-based treatment approaches.

The signs and symptoms of eating disorders vary from person to person and also differ according to the type of eating disorder that you are struggling with. However, the following are all common signs and symptoms that you, or someone that you know, may be suffering with an eating disorder:

• Abnormally low or high weight
• An obsession with your physical appearance and how other people perceive your body
• Believing that you are fat when other people say that you are thin
• A preoccupation with food and calories, and feeling as though food has taken over your life
• Feeling as though you have lost control over your eating habits
• Experiencing guilt and shame when you eat
• Experiencing intense stress during mealtimes
• Wanting to eat alone or in secret

You can read more about the signs and symptoms of the different eating disorders that we are able to treat, by accessing the links below:

• Signs and symptoms of anorexia nervosa
• Signs and symptoms of bulimia nervosa
• Signs and symptoms of BED
• Signs and symptoms of OSFED