19.5% increase in use of eating disorder support services highlights breadth of support needs

Eating disorders are serious and complex mental health conditions with increased risk of mortality and suicide. Bodywhys is the national voluntary organisation supporting people affected by eating disorders and their families in Ireland.

Ellen Jennings, Communications Officer with Bodywhys, said “In 2023, we observed a significant rise in demand for our core support services across the helpline, email support and online support groups. Our helpline received 1,292 calls, reflecting an increase of 35%, compared to 2022. Over a quarter (27%) of queries to Bodywhys came by phone in 2023. Our email support service dealt with 2,346 queries, reflecting almost half (49%) of all queries responded to by our volunteers. Binge eating disorder arose as a key concern for many of our service users, particularly within our adult online support groups, virtual support groups and email support.”

Ellen adds ”In parallel to this, in 2023, we launched several popular resources, including our free ‘Guide for Families‘ and a guide on ‘Speaking to Your Doctor,’ designed for individuals with eating disorders and those supporting them. We established our expert By experience (eBe) group, which consists of individuals with lived experience. We have been collecting feedback, insights, and suggestions from this group to share with the HSE’s specialist services (National Clinical Programme for Eating Disorders).”

From a youth engagement standpoint, Ellen highlights “We reached over 6,600 primary school students and more than 90,000 secondary school students through our body image initiatives ‘Happy To Be Me’ and #MoreThanASelfie. Additionally, over 7,200 post-primary students received our ‘Be Body Positive’ presentations, and over 15,000 individuals were reached through various youth events.”

Harriet Parsons, Training and Development Manager noted “From a carer’s perspective, we continued to deliver our Family Support Package, through our free evidence-based PiLaR programme, accessed by 637 people in 2023. Over three quarters of people who attended PiLaR were supporting their daughter, whilst 10% were supporting their son. Almost a fifth (19.64%) were supporting a person experiencing avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID). Additional family services included the provision of 20 Post-PiLaR support groups, New Maudsley Carer Skills (NMCS) workshops and 13 NMCS podcast episodes for those supporting a family member.”

Harriet concludes ”We know that the impact of caring for a person with an eating disorder is extremely high. Bodywhys provides a free family support package to provide carers with psychoeducation, support and skills to help alleviate the overwhelming responsibility associated with care. For carers who avail of our free family supports, they are supported on an ongoing basis for as long as they need.”

People can and do recover from eating disorders

-ENDS-

Notes for Editors

• Bodywhys is the national voluntary organisation supporting people affected by eating disorders. An estimated 188,895 people in Ireland will experience an eating disorder at some point in their lives. ((HSE), National Clinical Programme for Eating Disorders)
• Bodywhys 2023 Annual Report and Impact Report is available here
• Bodywhys next PiLaR programme for family members, parents and carers starts on: Thursday, November 7th 2024, running from 7pm – 9pm. To book a free place, please fill out our online booking form here or contact Christopher via: pilar@bodywhys.ie
• Bodywhys are conducting research on body image and related issues in primary, secondary and special needs education to facilitate the development of new resources. We invite all those who work in these areas to take part. Find our more here
• Bodywhys Online Support Groups, for students, teenagers and adults are available at: www.bodywhys.ie
• Email support and a listening ear can be accessed via: alex@bodywhys.ie
• Bodywhys Helpline Number: 01 2107906

For further information, please contact:

Ellen Jennings, Communications Officer

Mobile: 087 7769708

Email: communications@bodywhys.ie