[Special guest] Butterfly Foundation- How do you know if you have an eating disorder?

[Ben-RO]

There's a lot of pressure on both guys and girls to look a certain way. With Photoshop being as good as it is, the way many of us want to look is almost unattainable without the help of a Million dollar photo-studio and master Photoshop Retoucher.

For a lot of us this kind of pressure is pretty stressful and it's not the only thing that can make us worry about how we look; especially if there's a lot going on in our minds or day to day life already. This stress can turn into changes in the way we eat, exercise, dress or think about our bodies.

For some people these changes can get so bad that they can have a pretty serious impact on our health and make just getting through the day very hard work. If things are tough enough, we call this having an Eating Disorder. At least 1 million Australians are living with this right now.

Here's the tricky part; how do you know if you have an eating disorder? How do you know if the way you're thinking about your body or the way you're eating (or not eating) means you're at risk? Most importantly, what can you do about it? 

This month Chris from the Butterfly Foundation will join us to help answer these questions. The Butterfly Foundation provides support for Australians who suffer from eating disorders and negative body image issues and their carers. They know heaps about eating disorders and how to recover. They can also support you if you're not sure if some of the things that are happening could lead to an Eating Disorder.

You can ask Chris a question anonymously or share your story right now by filling out this anonymous question form. Chris will answer your questions after the chat as well as being available during the session.

Join us on the 30th of June at 9:00pm AEST to talk to Chris from the Butterfly Foundation.

[Ben-RO]

Hey everyone, welcome to tonight's infobus session! Tonight we're going to be talking about Eating Disorders with the amazing @Chris-Butterfly. 

Before we get started, just make sure you've had a little look at our community guidelines and keep them in mind while we're chatting. 

Also, if there's any point during tonight's session that you start to feel at all distressed I really encourage you to check out our emergency help info, which you can kind at the top right hand corner of the page, and have a talk to someone about how you're feeling. You can also get ED specific help from the Butterfly Foundation by clicking here

Time to get started with the first question!

What does “eating disorder”  mean?

[Chris-Butterfly]

Hi everyone. Thanks for having me on. Great to be here and looking forward to the discussion

[stonepixie]

Heya everyone

What does “eating disorder”  mean?

For me, I like to think of is as a psychological condition in which there is abnormal or disturbing eating patterns involved. People don't choose to have it. Nor is it a diet gone horribly wrong.

[Ben-RO]

Hey @Chris-Butterfly @stonepixie! 

[Chris-Butterfly]

Yeah great definition stonepixie. I totally agree. An eating disorder is a mental health illness which refers to disturbance in behaviour around food, exercise and body image and shape. It can affect any one of any size,weight or gender.

[Chris-Butterfly]

It c ertainly isn't a lifestyl choice or a diet gone wrong and it often affects both physical and mental health.

[Ben-RO]

What does “eating disorder”  mean?

To me it means some kind of unusual habit to do with eating, one that might not be good for you or makes day to day life harder or more stressful than it might need to be. 

[Ben-RO]

@Chris-Butterfly are there things like eating disorders that don't involve eating? Like for example, can you exercise too much? 

[Chris-Butterfly]

Certainly, an eating disorder may present differently for each individual. For some it may be controlling weight with strict and rigid dieting. For others it may be rigid exercise rules. And for others it may involve eating as a way of comfort.