Ms Kathy Downes:

To follow up on Ms Parsons's description of an eating order as a coping mechanism, a lot of the time the person finds it very difficult in the beginning to think that he or she might want or need treatment. Largely, what one might see is family and friends noticing something is up, feeling quite upset and concerned, perhaps needing to talk to the person, adult or child, and the person who is in the eating disorder at that time finding himself or herself in a place of feeling in denial or not wanting to acknowledge it. Many young people who engage with our services would find themselves completely shocked that anybody would think they had an eating disorder, even though they might be quite unwell at that stage. We also have people who come to us after a long period of living with an eating disorder, sometimes 15 or 20 years, and they might be at their first acknowledgement and realise that they need to get support and help and that now is the time to do so. People really differ. However, in the early stages one sees that the person might be in a more complicated or mixed-feeling place regarding the person's recovery.