Failure puts eating disorder children at risk of suicide

YOUNG people with eating disorders are at a greater risk of suicide due to a shocking lack of specialist child and adolescent mental health services, Fine Gael’s Dan Neville has warned.

The party’s spokesperson on health and president of the Irish Association of Suicidology said most young people with eating disorders were being admitted to medical wards where staff were neither trained nor supported to treat them.

“The average age of an eating disorder varies from 14, for anorexia, to 17 for bulimia (but) the absence of child and adolescent services results in many young people going untreated, and many others remaining undiagnosed,” he said.

Suicide risk among girls with anorexia is 200 times higher than in the general population.

According to Mr Neville, “Half of deaths associated with anorexia are from suicide, while the highest rates of suicide attempts are reported among those with bulimia who [abuse] alcohol.”

Communications & Advocacy Officer with Bodywhys, a support group for people with eating disorders, Catherine Joyce, agreed there was a “distinct” lack of dedicated services available in public hospitals for children at risk of anorexia.

She pointed out that the Government promised to establish a national centre for young people with eating disorders in their policy document on mental health services — a Vision for Change, one year ago.

That document envisages community mental health teams managing eating disorders in children and adolescents using beds in five in-patient child and adolescent units nationwide, as well as a national paediatric hospital.

Currently, just three public hospital beds — in St Vincent’s Hospital in Dublin — are used to treat eating disorders in children and adolescents.

There was an 18-month waiting list for those hospital beds, said Ms Joyce, and no sign of the long promised national centre.

Private in-patient programmes for children and adolescents with eating disorders can, however, be accessed under the National Treatment Purchase Fund, she added.

Those wanting to contact Bodywhys can call 1890 200 444 or access their website at www.bodywhys.ie.