Cost-of-living, pandemic cause surge in eating disorder cases

Joyce Tam, National Helpline Manager at Butterfly Foundation, said more people are seeking support for an eating disorder, disordered eating and body image concerns since COVID-19, and the subsequent cost-of-living crisis further complicated the situation.

Ms Tam said psychosocial stressors, like cost-of-living and housing pressures, could play "a significant part in our mental health and wellbeing", including in the development of eating disorders.

READ ALSO: I felt like a freak: Teen's struggle to find anorexia treatment

She said there is a strong need for services and professionals to provide specialised treatment services in eating disorders, as well as the need to strengthen the support available for family and friends.

"The pandemic certainly created the 'perfect storm' for eating disorders to develop and thrive. Research reveals body image concerns, depression, anxiety and eating disorder symptoms increased by more than 50 per cent during the pandemic," Ms Tam told the Daily Liberal.

"Since COVID began, Butterfly has also experienced a significant surge in demand to all services, including to our national Helpline for eating disorders and body dissatisfaction, prevention services in schools and community, and support groups and other treatment services."

Ms Tam said data revealed one in seven adults are attempting to save money by skipping meals during heightened cost-of-living periods, as well as reducing portion sizes, or avoiding eating altogether, which is concerning for people at risk of developing an eating disorder.

"This is particularly troubling for those experiencing an eating disorder or at risk of developing one, with stress and uncertainty known triggers for eating disorder relapse," Ms Tam said.

"Research also reveals that eating disorder pathology worsened as food insecurity increased. In particular, Household food insecurity is associated with binge-eating disorder and obesity, possibly in part due to the 'feast-famine' effect, a natural tendency to binge after periods of food scarcity.

READ ALSO: Dietitian sees rise in eating disorders since COVID, and why she's not surprised

"Individuals who experience childhood food neglect may also be at increased risk for anorexia nervosa after adjusting for other adverse experiences and financial difficulties during childhood."

For people living in regional and rural communities, there is a general lack of eating disorder support, adding to the complexity of finding help in regional areas including Dubbo.

Ms Tam reminded people to seek help from their GP in the first instance, while Telehealth is becoming a more common option for people across Australia since the pandemic, with the latest studies showing positive outcomes for participants with eating disorders.

Tanya Forster, CEO and Psychologist at Macquarie Health Collective in Dubbo, said things have been "really stressful" and people are "really needing help" with their mental health - including eating disorders - since the pandemic.

"But now we have to add to it an extra layer of cost-of-living, which means that people need support, certainly, but their capacity to afford the supports that they may really want to access is becoming harder and harder," Ms Forster told the Daily Liberal.

"People are struggling to keep up with the cost of living when it comes to things like their rent and their electricity, and so people start to have the perception that paying for healthcare providers almost becomes a luxury rather than a necessity."

A number of Ms Forster's patients across the board cancelled their appointments to manage costs during the pandemic - and she is seeing this again now, due to the cost of living.

She added access to supports for eating disorders in Dubbo is "already a major problem" and specialists in Dubbo was "a huge area of need".

"There are not many providers that are working in this area, and so for clients who need to access that form of support, it's a really big challenge," she said.

"Ideally, supports for people who are struggling with eating disorders would be multidisciplinary. We would really wrap a team around them to really provide the high level of care that they need. So that might include a psychologist, a psychiatrist, a dietician, a GP, a paediatrician if they're a child.

"But at the moment in our region, there are not many providers from any of those categories and work in this area.

"And so it's already been really, really hard for people to access support locally and to not have to travel away for services.

"But if you then add to that financial pressure, cost of living pressures, then those barriers are only becoming bigger."

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Dietician Claire Ward, who runs a practice in Orange and serves some Dubbo clients, said she was seeing more people presenting with eating disorders around the 40-years age group since the pandemic and cost-of-living crisis began.

"There's a lot going on, at 40 years old, there's a lot of pressure in life now - economic and social pressure," she told the Daily Liberal.

She said she was "definitely seeing an increase" in people presenting with eating disorders at her practice in the last 10 years.

"It's so prevalent ... and it's not age-dependent. It's not a young person's thing - it's any age, any socio-economic background, it's not discriminatory."

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