My aim in this article is to demystify anorexia in five hundred words. Well, perhaps not.

Anorexia Misunderstood

There have been too many equally ambitious attempts to categorise and understand eating disorders. Whether we are referring to psychoanalysis or Channel Four's 'Body Image' programmes, disordered eating remains inherently misunderstood.

Even sufferers can find themselves alienated from their own bodies by this illness; it consumes them physically and mentally, eating away at their self-confidence, as well as their ability to rationalise or objectify their illness.

The same can be said about misguided comments such as, "there are two types of anorexia, the vanity kind and the ill kind".

Harmful attitudes such as these succeed only in maintaining the stigma attached to disordered eating. With so much curiosity over this type of illness, one would imagine that the provision of expert health care for sufferers would be a priority. The reality is that access to decent medical attention can be a lottery.

Help for Sufferers

In Cambridge, your G.P. effectively determines the quality of your medical care.

Less enlightened doctors can simply prescribe anti-depressants and send sufferers away. This merely masks the disease. Even if you are fortunate enough to have a more progressive doctor, the waiting list for therapy can be as long as six months on the N.H.S.

If you or a friend is in this situation there are other options available to you. Within your college you could speak with your Student Union Welfare Officer, your Women's Officer, your Tutor or your Senior Tutor.

As with your G.P, if the person you speak to is not an expert, they may not be able to give you the most helpful advice.

Also available is the University Counselling Service (UCS). All their services are free and there is a wide range of counsellors who will be able to help you. To make an initial assessment appointment, e-mail, phone or 'drop in' on the service.

Contacting any of these options, however, depends upon the individual being able to acknowledge that they are ill.

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Anorexia has been repeatedly linked to high achievers, which makes it a particularly relevant issue for Cambridge students.

One of the most difficult situations surrounds what to do if you suspect a friend is suffering from an eating disorder.

What Should Friends Do?

Should you confront them at the risk of forcing them into denial? Actively coercing someone into accepting that they have a problem rarely works. It can even have the effect of provoking them to stop eating, or to start bingeing.

Eating disorders are a predominantly secretive illness and bringing them out into the open can be a traumatic experience.

Although there is no ideal way to handle this kind of situation, providing a supportive environment in which your friend can trust you makes it easier for them to accept your anxieties surrounding their eating habits. If they have a reliable support network, they can face the prospect of seeking help more easily.

Anorexia Can Be Beaten

It is deplorable that there remains such a negative and fatalistic attitude towards the treatment of eating disorders. The view that even if a sufferer seeks help, the best that they can hope for is to keep their illness at bay is entirely defeatist.

opinions of recovering anorexics, I have been asked to stress that it is vital to believe that your illness does not have to dominate your life.

During the pressures of term in Cambridge, it is sometimes hard to see a 'light' and one can easily become overwhelmed.

Despite valid criticisms of the welfare provision in colleges, there is a wide variety of support available to anybody seeking help to combat their disordered eating.

Help and Support

Linkline
http://www.cam.ac.uk/cambuniv/linkline/
17 St. Edward's Passage
01223 367 575

University Counselling Service
http://www.counselling.cam.ac.uk/
14 Trumpington Street
01223 332 865

CUSU Eating Disorders Support
01223 740 555