EAting disorders: Information and support for carers

A parent-led initiative to share skills & information & provide mutual support for those caring for a loved one with an eating disorder.

We are based in Essex, UK and also support families in Suffolk.


parents & Carers can do so much to help recovery....

We are a group of parents who met through NHS Eating Disorders service. We attended an 11 week Skills Based Course for Parents based on the New Maudsley Method which provided information, skills and confidence to support recovery.  Through pooling our knowledge and experiences, and offering empathy and understanding, we hope to help other families support their loved one through recovery.

AIMS

EAS-ED has two main aims:

 1.    To provide information that has been found to be helpful to those caring for someone with an eating disorder, covering a wide range of topics. Our website has sections on education, employment, accessing therapy, looking after yourself and much more. 

 2.    To provide regular support meetings for carers where people can meet up and share experiences and provide mutual support.

 Whether your loved one is a child, adolescent or adult, whether you are a parent, partner or carer, we welcome you.  If you would like to connect with us and join our support group, or talk to someone, please see the page for 'EAS-ED Support Group ' for more information and use the 'Contact Us' page to see dates of meetings. If you include your contact details we will reply and can let you know about support group meetings and send you newsletters by email if you are interested. We will always respect your privacy and confidentiality.

Do you need support? Would you like to receive our newsletters? Please see our Contact Us page.

EAS-ED is an unfunded organisation run entirely by parent volunteers

We are not trained professionals and do not offer medical advice, therapy or counselling. However we DO offer support! 

The information on this site is not a substitute for professional advice

WEBSITE CONTENTS:

(Click on item to go direct to the page)

We launched our website in September 2014, and we hope you will find it helpful. We welcome your feedback and contributions - Please help us to improve the site.

You can find out about our support group meeting dates, subscribe to our newsletters and send brief messages using the 'Contact Us' page. 

Please bookmark our site and revisit us often to see new material. 


HAVE YOU SEEN....?

Some of our activities, featured in our regular in newsletter, include:

March 2020

March 2-8 2020 was national 'Eating Disorders Awareness Week', sponsored by Beat charity (beateatingdisorders.org.uk).
In Essex, the NHS Adult Eating Disorders team delivered a series of awareness raising events, including Chelmsford (High Chelmer Shopping Centre), Harlow (The Harvey Centre) and Colchester (University of Essex).
The highlight of the week was an evening of talks and entertainment at Essex County Cricket Ground in Chelmsford. Talks covered History of Eating Disorders diagnosis, types of eating disorders, a moving and uplifting talk by young woman who has recovered from anorexia, talk by mother of her daughter's struggles and recovery from anorexia. Young stand-up comedian and author Dave Chawner talked frankly and with humour about his personal struggles with mental health and recovery from anorexia.

Book review: 'Weight Expectations - One Man's Recovery From Anorexia' by Dave Chawner (ISBN1785923587) (ISBN13: 9781785923586).
'Part memoir, part self-help guide, this witty book will take you through the day-to-day struggles of living with an eating disorder. Stand-up comedian Dave Chawner tells the story of how he became anorexic, what his life with mental illness was like, and how he started his journey to recovery.'

Key messages from the speakers included:
Importance of early intervention (diagnosis and treatment)
Importance of teaching carers how to provide effective support

Key resources signposted by the NHS team include:

FREED is First Episode Rapid Early Intervention for Eating Disorders.
It is a service for 16 to 25-year-olds who have had an eating disorder for three years or less (anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, binge eating disorder or another eating disorder). This service will be launched by NHS in West Essex for adults soon.
FREED website: freedfromed.co.uk https://freedfromed.co.uk/

Maudsley Model of Anorexia Nervosa Treatment for Adults
MANTRA self help manual: 'A Cognitive Interpersonal Therapy Workbook for Treating Anorexia Nervosa - The Maudsley Model' (Ulrike Schmidt, Helen Startup, Janet Treasure)
ISBN-13: 978-1138832893
ISBN-10: 1138832898

"The Eating Disorders Genetics Initiative (EDGI), led by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Mental Health BioResource (part of the NIHR BioResource), researchers at King’s College London and Beat, the UK’s eating disorder charity, is a project set up to support studies exploring risk factors for eating disorders."

https://edgiuk.org/about/

Spring 2019

  • Evening Meetings: In addition to monthly morning meetings, we continued to offer evening meetings every 2 months, well supported by mums & dads. If interested in future meetings, let us know via the 'Contact Us' page.

Autumn 2018

  • Evening Meetings: First evening meetings in Chelmsford area.
  • Church Service for Carers: We held a simple, reflective church service for parents & carers of loved ones struggling with mental ill-health. 

Summer 2017

  • Attended the Essex Mental Health Strategy Launch event

Spring 2017

  • Featured on BBC Essex Radio with Jenny Langley, to raise awareness of eating disorders in men & boys

Summer 2016:

  • Hosted evening event for carers - covered Skills Practice, The Mechanics of Stress, and Scrap-booking for Relaxation

Spring 2016:

  • Attended EDIC - 2016 Eating Disorders International Conference in London
  • We supported a Chat for Change carers event

Autumn 2015:

  • In October, we were invited back to host a stand at the East Anglia Eating Disorders Network Conference.
  • Group representatives attended information events hosted by NELFT, which has won the contract to provide mental health services for children and young people across Essex, Southend & Thurrock, outlining the launch of the new 'Emotional Wellbeing and Mental Health Service'.
  • We have updated the Accessing Therapy page to reflect the change in provision of NHS eating disorders services for young people in Essex with effect from November 1, 2015.
  • We attended a 'Learn & Share' conference for voluntary organisations in the health sector.

Summer 2015: 

  • In June/July we helped deliver a 5-week course for carers covering Holistic Resources for Managing Stress, with input from a range of professionals from health, education, and community / faith leaders.
  • Opportunities to 'Walk & Talk' at various locations around Essex.
  • We added a page on Welfare Benefits - see tab For Carers.
  • Face Recovery Instagram -The inspirational recovered ‘Young Consultants’ from Maplehust ED Team have developed an Instagram site to promote recovery which sends out positive messages supporting recovery:-  https://instagram.com/facerecovery/

Spring 2015:

  • For Eating Disorders Awareness Week in February, EAS-ED teamed up with the CAMHS Eating Disorder Team to run an open event to raise awareness of eating disorders and the therapy and support available in Essex. The evening was aimed at individuals, relatives and health & education professionals.  There were speakers from CAMHS Eating Disorders team, EAS-ED carers support group, and an inspirational Young Consultant, covering information about eating disorders, help and support for carers and stories of recovery and hope. The event was featured on BBC TV Look East News.
  • Three members of the EAS-ED team were interviewed on BBC Radio Essex for the Dave Monk show.
  • One of CAMHS ‘Young Consultants’  has kindly allowed us to publish her inspirational story of recovery from anorexia. This can be found under ‘Accessing Therapy’ – Recovery Story.

Autumn / Winter 2014:

  • In October, we were invited to present 'Parents Perspectives' to 70+ Eating Disorders (E.D.) professionals at the East Anglia Eating Disorders Network Conference.
  • We were finalists, jointly with Young Consultants, for NEP NHS Trust's 'Improving the Patient/Carer Experience' Award in November.

Are you looking for information?

Let us know what you are looking for and we'll aim to help!

You can use the 'COntact Us' page to reach us by phone, email or contact form

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