The invisible epidemic of eating disorders in Britain
The Story
The Times
3.9 • 1.6K Ratings
🗓️ 16 March 2021
⏱️ 30 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Content warning: this episode contains discussion of eating disorders and mentions of suicidal thoughts.
At times during the pandemic, it's felt like diet and exercise - or at least worrying about them - has become a national obsession. But what if your weight was already an obsession? Today we speak to people struggling with eating disorders, which have been on the rise in the past year, and examine the ways these conditions are still misunderstood.
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Guests:
- Lara, recovering from an eating disorder.
- Dave Chawner, standup comedian, presenter and author of Weight Expectations.
- Dr Agnes Ayton, Chair of the Faculty of Eating Disorders at the Royal College of Psychiatrists.
Host: Manveen Rana.
Resources if you or a loved one are struggling:
- Samaritans: call 116 123 or visit: samaritans.org
- Beat, the UK's eating disorder charity: beateatingdisorders.org.uk
- You can also try Hub of Hope, the UK’s leading mental health support database, which helps you connect with the support services in your area: hubofhope.co.uk.
Clips used: Bloomberg, ITV.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | It's been a long and grueling lockdown for everyone, but for some it's triggered a pre-existing |
| 0:11.3 | hell. |
| 0:12.3 | I felt like there was a massive vacuum that needed to be filled again. |
| 0:18.0 | Eating disorders love a vacuum. |
| 0:20.6 | Eating disorders have been on the rise in lockdown, but the stigma and misunderstandings |
| 0:25.7 | attached to the illness persist and the consequences are alarming. |
| 0:30.9 | Anorexia has the highest mortality rate of any mental illness. |
| 0:34.1 | I want to realise that I was anorexic over time it became a slow suicide attempt. |
| 0:40.3 | You're listening to stories of our times from the times and the Sunday times. |
| 0:44.3 | I'm Manvin Rana, today, the invisible epidemic, the rise of eating disorders in the UK. |
| 0:52.4 | We're going to be talking about some difficult subjects today. |
| 0:56.0 | Eating disorders, mental illness, even suicidal thoughts, so if any of those are triggers for |
| 1:01.4 | you, you might want to give this episode a miss. |
| 1:04.0 | And if you want to talk to someone about any of those issues, we've included the numbers |
| 1:08.9 | for help lines in the description of this episode. |
| 1:22.4 | At times during the pandemic, it felt like diet and exercise, or at least worrying about |
| 1:32.6 | both, have become a national obsession. |
| 1:36.3 | Hi folks, I've been doing a lot. |
| 1:38.6 | In fact, everything I can to lose weight and to feel fitter and healthier. |
| 1:44.4 | According to reports, Boris Johnson is planning to put the country on a diet to help beat |
| 1:49.4 | coronavirus. |
| 1:50.4 | I think it's going to do for our relationship with food. |
... |
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