Child Molesters, Child Abuse Effects: Bulimia, Eating Disorders, Addictions

At least 11,000 people in the city are living with eating disorders like anorexia or bulimia nervosa but most are unable to get help, according to South Yorkshire Eating Disorders Association.
Spokesperson Christine Taylor claims Government health guidelines stating sufferers should have immediate access to specialist health services are being ignored because there is little NHS help available in Sheffield.
Few city GPs are trained to help, there is only a limited NHS community service, and hospital psychiatric wards are ill-equipped to tackle emotional issues at the root of the mental health disorder, she claims.
"We get people who go to see their GP and are told 'it is not my area of expertise'. In another case a young woman was told 'go home and drink a pint of milk and have a treat'. The GP wasn't going to see her for four weeks," said Christine.
"There is a lack of understanding that specialist help is needed to tackle eating disorders which are totally misunderstood."
Anorexia is often described as a 'slimmer's disease' but is actually a mental illness. Sufferers rigidly control their eating to cope with the difficulties of life and not eating can be used as a way to block painful feelings. Bulimics eat huge quantities of food, then throw it up, as a way to deal with emotional distress.
Young women aged from 14-25 are mostly likely to develop an eating disorder but men, children as young as eight, and older women can develop the problem, which can persist for life.
The local association runs support groups, but Christine said a massive expansion in services is needed because so many people are suffering in silence.
She said people who are dangerously underweight through anorexia are often reluctant to go into hospital because they are not able to get psychiatric treatment, and have concerns about being labelled mentally ill.
Sheffield Care Trust runs an NHS service in the community to help those with severe eating disorders but it can only help 50 people at a time.
She said: "We can provide support and self-help literature. But there needs to be many more services. These are complex conditions because of the denial, secrecy and embarrassment of the disease. Ninety per cent of people affected do not access the NHS."
Sheffield Care Trust said: "We provide a service for people with anorexia nervosa and bulimia, prioritising those with the most severe difficulties. It is the only NHS service of its kind in the area.
"Urgent cases are always seen quickly If a client needs psychiatric help, they will be assessed and treated by one of Sheffield Care Trust's services."