Rising number of people seek help to fight obesity
Anorexic and bulimic men and women once made up the lion's share of those with eating disorders seeking help from psychotherapists and other healthcare professionals.
But today, it's those who are obese, compulsive eaters or binge eaters who are seeking help.
Psychotherapist and founder of the eating disorder resource website, www.eatingdisordersireland.com, Suzanne Horgan, says most of the people coming to her clinic looking for help are extremely demoralised and many seek her help as a last resort.
"Obesity is on the increase all the time and more and more of those with weight problems are realising that they need help. It is often the overweight who are the truly heart-broken ones.
"The perception of them in society is that they are lazy, they are ugly and they lack control. When a person sees someone who is underweight, the gut reaction is that they want to hug them. When they see someone who is overweight, their reaction is very different. They get a hard deal in society," said the Wexford-based therapist.
"We examine all aspects of the individual as a whole, and focus on finding a solution to the eating disorder problem, instead of dwelling on it," she said.
"To recover from an eating disorder you have to address healing on four levels. These are at: a mental level your beliefs and thoughts; an emotional level your feelings; a physical level body image and behaviour and a spiritual level your spirit the essence of who you are.
"Out of a possible 20 clients, as many as eight would be overweight or obese.
Obese to a lay person would be someone who is seen to be grossly overweight. Doctors consider a person to be obese if he or she weighs 30% above expected weight for age, height, and body build.
"At present 50% of adult population in the UK are overweight 17% of men and 21% of women are obese. The UK is a blueprint for Ireland's trends," she said.
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
