Eating Disorders and Self-Harm Link to Help Prevention

(October 13, 2006) -- There are many parallels between eating disorders and self-harm that can provide us with clues to find better ways of responding to, self-harm, says Ms Helen MacWhite, Communications Officer with Bodywhys, the Eating Disorders Association of Ireland. Ms MacWhite spoke at the recent Irish Association of Suicidology’s Annual Conference , and said these prevention strategies may also be applicable in the context of suicide.

According to Ms MacWhite, “the presence of these qualities alone will help to create the potential for healing to occur.

“Coming into the world is an overwhelming and potentially traumatic experience by any standards, and the subsequent task of learning to be in the world is a highly challenging and complex business,” she said.

She added that when a person has sustained surcharges of anxiety it can ultimately lead to an incapacity to express emotions , and the individual will develop behaviour patterns that will display a dominance of anxiety relieving strategies which “do not involve a mediating factor that elicits a response from the world around them.

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A key element to improving the response to mental distress and to building resilience in those who resort to self-harming behaviours in order to survive “s rooted in self-awareness and effective communications skills, she said.

Source: Irish Medical News

Last updated: 10/06

Related Information:

• Eating Disorders and Self-Injury

• Self-Injury: Types, Causes and Treatment

• A Radical New Argument in Treating Eating Disorders

• Nutrition Intervention in the Treatment of Eating Disorders

• What Parents Need to Know About Eating Disorders

• Ten Ways to Help Yourself Deal with an Eating Disorder

• Tips for Kids on Eating Well and Feeling Good about Yourself

• The Five Greatest Motivators For Preschool Children to Eat Healthy Foods

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• Eating Disorders Treatment Overview

• Overcoming Eating Disorders

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• Anorexia Nervosa - The Most Deadly Mental Illness

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• Brain Theory of Eating Disorders

• The Many Causes of Eating Disorders

• Types, Causes, Symptoms of Eating Disorders in Children and What a Parent Can Do

• Who Needs Eating Disorders Treatment

• Philosophy and Approaches to Treating Eating Disorders

• What Parents Need to Know About Eating Disorders

• Eating Disorder Patients Heal Through Yoga

• New Self-Help Technology Set to Combat Eating Disorders

• New Treatment Program for Eating Disorders: Exercise!

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