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Eating disorders

Understanding and supporting your wellbeing around food.

Understand eating disorders.

Eating disorders affect how someone thinks, feels, and behaves around food and their body. They can take many forms, including anorexia, bulimia, binge eating disorder, and other specified feeding or eating disorders (OSFED).

These conditions are not about “willpower” they often develop as a way to cope with emotions, stress, or difficult experiences. Eating disorders can affect anyone, and they are more common than you might think among university students.

Why do I feel this way

Eating disorders often develop as a way to cope with stress, anxiety, or low self-esteem. University life can bring new pressures including academic workload, social expectations, body image concerns, or being away from home all of which can contribute to disordered eating patterns.

Common signs may include:

  • restricting food intake or skipping meals
  • eating large amounts of food in a short time (bingeing)Purging through vomiting, laxatives, or excessive exercise
  • obsessive thoughts about weight, shape, or calories
  • feeling guilty, ashamed, or anxious around food
  • avoiding social situations involving eating

It’s important to remember that an eating disorder is a serious condition and not something that can simply be “snapped out of.” Early support can improve wellbeing and recovery outcomes.

What can I do to help now

There are some practical actions you can take now if you recognise some of those signs or have an eating disorder:

  • Reach out for support: Talk to a trusted friend, family member, or University staff. You don’t have to cope alone and support is available
  • Seek professional help: Your GP, the University Medical Centre, or the Student Support team can help you access specialist eating disorder services
  • Avoid self-blame: Eating disorders are not your fault. Be gentle with yourself and focus on small, positive steps
  • Stay connected: Try to maintain social connections, even if you find meals challenging. Isolation can make things worse
  • Practice Self-Kindness: Notice negative self-talk, avoid self-blame, and use grounding techniques or mindfulness to manage anxiety around food and body image
  • Focus on coping strategies: Mindfulness, journaling, or gentle physical activity can help manage anxiety and stress alongside professional support

It can be helpful to practice self-care. Beat the eating disorder charity have a useful self help and self-care guide including self-care ideas, action plans and tips for managing an eating disorder.

Helpful videos

Helpful podcasts

Listening to podcasts can be a good way to find out more about eating disorders and hear from personal experiences. Here are some podcasts that can help you:

  • The Body Protest: a podcast hoping to uncover the hidden journey of the relationship you have with yourself.
  • Appearance Matters: The Podcast!: this is the official podcast of the Centre for Appearance Research – a world leading research centre investigating body image and appearance psychology. 
  • Project Body Love: a 30 day programme designed to help you improve your relationship with your body.
  • The Body Image Podcast: a podcast about body image and the many layers that go into making peace with our bodies.
  • The Eating Disorder Therapist : a podcast offering recovery interviews, therapeutic tips, and insight into finding peace with food.

Apps

  • Our free Be Well app is full of practical tools which can help you manage your overall wellbeing. This includes tools to help you mange stress, mindfulness tools to help distract and a journaling tool to track how your feel.
  • The Am I Hungry app is a powerful tool for making more mindful decisions so users are more in charge of every decision without having to resort to rules and restrictions.
  • AteMate is a visual, mindful, and non-judgemental app that helps users to uncover the why behind their choices and discover how foods make them feel.

Books you can read

We have several books available in the university library which you can access through the Read Well collection.

Self-help books

  • Banish your body image thief: a cognitive behavioural therapy workbook on building positive body image for young people (Kate Collins-Donnelly)
  • Getting better bite by bite: a survival kit for sufferers of bulimia nervosa and binge eating disorders (Ulrike Schmidt) 
  • Overcoming bulimia nervosa and binge-eating: a self-help guide using cognitive behavioural techniques (Peter Cooper) 
  • Mindful eating: a guide to rediscovering a healthy and joyful relationship with food (Jan Chozen Bays) 

Self-help books (not available through the university) 

  • Overcoming Binge Eating 2nd edition by Christopher Fairburn
  • Just eat it by Laura Thomas
  • The DBT solution for emotional eating by Debra Safer 

Helpful Websites

People you can talk to

If you think you have an eating disorder there are people and charities that can support you:

Online Support Groups 

In Person Support Groups 

1:1 Support

Final thoughts

Eating disorders can be overwhelming, but support is available, and recovery is possible. You are not alone; reaching out to someone you trust, or a professional is a strong first step. Take small, kind steps for your wellbeing, and use the resources available to help you along the way.

This guide was written by Student Support in partnership with students.

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