188,895 people in Ireland will be affected by an eating disorder at some point in their lives

Today marks the beginning of Eating Disorder Awareness Week.

From February 25 to March 3, a series of workshops, conferences, and information evenings will be taking place across the country in a bid to educate the public about EDs and provide them with the tools to notice when something is wrong. It's estimated that between one and four percent of people in Ireland will experience disordered eating at some point in their lives - that's 188,895 of us who will be directly affected by the mental illness. Eating Disorder Awareness Week, as promoted by Bodywhys (the eating disorder association of Ireland), aims to generate more discussion about the often hidden illness. https://twitter.com/MHReform/status/1099959568623435776 This year, the organisation is focusing on the effect an eating disorder can have on entire families. Bodywhys training and development manager, Harriet Parsons, says that since 2014 over 600 family members have attended the organisation's free programmes designed to educate and provide support to every person affected by the illness. "When a person develops an eating disorder it affects the whole family," she says. "Family life becomes stressful, relationships change and anxiety becomes the norm. Families need support to cope with this. “Parents in a supporting role have many needs; education, information, emotional and practical support. They can feel isolated and alone. In order to cope and support their loved one with an eating disorder, families in turn need to be supported so that they can have the resilience to see their loved one recover.” The most common misconception around eating disorders is that they are entirely focused and triggered by anxieties around food and weight gain. In reality, EDs are related to a need to control and the perceived loss of control a person attaches to eating. The illness is a destructive coping mechanism that often involve rituals and compulsive actions, meaning that trying to break the cycle of disordered eating is extremely difficult. A full list of events for Eating Disorder Awareness Week can be found here.  If you need more information on eating disorders, or have been affected by any of the issues raised in this article, you can contact Bodywhys by emailing [email protected] or calling 1890 200 444.