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How are family & friends affected |
Parents, siblings, partners, friends, extended family, work collegues and others often experience many different feelings as they learn to cope with the effects of the eating disorder on the person, and on their own lives. The strain of living with the eating disorder can create tensions and divisions within the family. Each person involved will be affected in different ways. There may be feelings of:
Confusion about:
- the eating disorder and recovery process
- why this has happened
- the best way to handle the illness in the family, partnership or friendship circle etc
 Grief & Anger about:
- loss of the person’s mental and physical health
- change in the person’s behaviour/denial of problem, refusal to get help
- the difficulties or changes the illness is creating in the family, partnership or friendship circle etc
- not being able to make the person well
- loss of time alone and/or with other family members/friends
- loss of trust for the person who may behave deceptively
Guilt or Fear about:
- possibly causing the illness in some way
- not recognising the illness earlier
- not dealing with the illness differently
- that the person may not recover or may die
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