Feeling Alone? - Support For Sufferers

Perhaps one of the hardest things to deal with about struggling with an eating disorder is feeling so alone. Eating disorders make people withdraw and spend more and more time on their own, but also they really put pressure on friendships. Its really hard to understand what your friend is going through, and often only the closest friends remain. Plus a lot of socialising involves food one way or another, so that can be very difficult. But worst of all is feeling so terribly alone even when there are lots of people around you - perhaps at a party, or at school/college/work. Somehow an eating disorder makes you feel that no one really understands you - that a large part of your life is in a secret cut-off world that no one else can get into.

If you've ever struggled with feelings of loneliness, we'd like you to know that you are not alone. There are various things that we can do to help you to feel less isolated, but do remember that there are hundreds and thousands of people struggling just like you every day - and that's just in this country! Add to that the thousands who have recovered from an eating disorder and who remember just what it is like to feel the way you do - and you can see that you are not alone at all.