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Get startedEating Disorders: Understand, Treat and Heal
Eating disorders are serious mental health conditions that affect your relationship with food, body image and self-worth. They can have severe physical, emotional and psychological consequences.
Reviewed by Phillipa Brown, AHPRA-registered Psychologist
Understanding eating disorders.
Eating disorders are serious mental health conditions that affect your relationship with food, body image and self-worth. They can have severe physical, emotional and psychological consequences.
Early recognition and treatment are essential for recovery.
What Causes Eating Disorders?
Eating disorders develop due to a mix of biological, psychological and environmental factors. These may include:
- Genetics or family history of eating disorders
- Perfectionism or low self-esteem
- Trauma, bullying or body shaming
- Cultural pressures or unrealistic beauty standards
- Co-existing mental health conditions like anxiety or depression
Common Types of Eating Disorders
Anorexia Nervosa: Restricting food intake, extreme fear of gaining weight and distorted body image.
Bulimia Nervosa: Episodes of binge eating followed by purging (vomiting, excessive exercise or laxative use).
Binge Eating Disorder: Repeated episodes of eating large quantities of food with a sense of loss of control, often followed by shame or guilt.
Recognise the Signs of an Eating Disorder
- Obsessive focus on weight, food, calories or body shape
- Extreme restriction or control around food
- Episodes of overeating in secret
- Avoiding meals or social situations involving food
- Fluctuations in weight
- Withdrawal from friends or usual activities
- Intense fear of gaining weight, even if underweight
- Physical symptoms like fatigue, dizziness, hair loss or digestive issues
Myths about Eating Disorders
Myth: Eating disorders are just about food or appearance. Truth: Eating disorders are complex mental health conditions involving deep emotional distress.
Myth: Only young women get eating disorders. Truth: Eating disorders affect people of all genders, ages and backgrounds.
Why Getting Help Matters
Eating disorders can lead to serious health issues, including malnutrition, heart problems and mental health decline. Seeking help can:
- Improve your relationship with food and body image
- Address underlying emotional issues
- Restore physical health and wellbeing
- Build lasting coping skills
How MeHelp Psychology Can Support You
At MeHelp Psychology, our psychologists offer supportive and evidence-based treatment tailored to your needs:
- Personalised Therapy: Focused sessions addressing thoughts, behaviours and emotions behind disordered eating.
- Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT-E): A proven approach for eating disorder recovery.
- Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT): Helping you work through difficult emotions and build healthy habits.
- Body Image Support: Improving body confidence and self-acceptance.
Real-Life Example
Chloe, 21, struggled with bulimia for years. She felt stuck in a cycle of guilt, shame and secrecy. With the support of a MeHelp psychologist using CBT-E and ACT, Chloe built healthier eating habits, improved her self-worth and now leads a more balanced, connected life.
Practical Steps You Can Take Today
- Practice Regular Eating: Avoid long gaps between meals to reduce binge urges.
- Identify Emotional Triggers: Keep a journal to explore the connection between emotions and eating behaviours.
- Be Kind to Your Body: Avoid body checking or negative self-talk.
- Limit Exposure to Diet Culture: Unfollow accounts that promote unrealistic body ideals.
- Reach Out: Talk to someone you trust or a mental health professional.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Can eating disorders be treated through online therapy?
Yes. Online therapy offers a safe, private and effective space to explore and treat eating disorders.
Is medical support needed alongside therapy?
In many cases, yes. Eating disorders often require a multidisciplinary approach involving a GP, dietitian and psychologist.
Do Medicare rebates apply for eating disorder treatment?
Yes. With a Mental Health Care Plan from your GP, you can receive Medicare rebates for therapy sessions related to eating disorders.
Begin Your Recovery
You are not alone. Recovery from an eating disorder is possible with the right support. MeHelp Psychology is here to help you build a healthier relationship with food, body and self.
Book your first session today and take the first step towards healing.
What causes eating disorders?
There's rarely one single cause. Most of the time, eating disorders develops from a mix of life experiences, biology, and the environment a person grew up in. Stressful events, family history, and how someone learned to cope with big feelings as a child all play a part.
Understanding the "why" doesn't make the experience smaller — but it can take some of the self-blame out of it. What you're going through makes sense, given everything that came before it.
A psychologist can help you join the dots between what's happened in your life and what you're feeling now — and start to shift the patterns gently.
Supporting someone going through eating disorders.
Watching someone you care about struggle with eating disorders is hard. You might feel helpless, worried, or unsure of what to say. That's normal.
You can help by:
- Listening without trying to fix or rush them
- Taking what they say seriously, even when it's hard to hear
- Asking what kind of support would actually help today
- Looking after your own wellbeing too — you can't pour from an empty cup
- Encouraging professional support without pressuring them
If you're the one supporting them, you're allowed to seek your own therapy too — it doesn't take anything away from them.
The emotional impact is real.
The feelings below are common with eating disorders. They're not signs that something is wrong with you — they're signs of what you've been carrying.
Anxiety and feeling on edge. Always scanning for the next thing to go wrong. Hard to switch off.
Self-doubt. Second-guessing your decisions, memory, or read of the situation.
Low mood and tiredness. Tasks that used to feel easy take far more effort than they used to.
Shame. A sense that other people are coping better than you are. Shame eases in the right company.
Numbness or distance. Feeling foggy, disconnected, or like you're watching life from a step back.
Sleep changes. Trouble falling asleep, waking at 3am, or sleeping far more than usual.
You don't need a formal diagnosis to take what you're feeling seriously. The impact is real.
Why recovery takes time.
Healing from eating disorders is rarely a straight line. It moves in waves — clear one week, harder the next, then quieter again. That isn't a setback. That's the shape of healing.
Good therapy won't push you faster than you're ready to go. Pacing — not pressure — is how this work moves. Small, steady steps add up.
When to seek help.
You might consider seeing a psychologist if you notice any of the following:
- Eating Disorders is affecting your work, study, or relationships
- You've been trying to cope on your own and it isn't shifting
- Sleep, appetite, or energy have been off for weeks
- You're using alcohol or other things to take the edge off
- A friend, family member, or GP has suggested you talk to someone
- You just want a space to make sense of what's going on
If you're in crisis right now
Call 000 if you or someone else is in danger. Lifeline on 13 11 14 is open 24/7. For family or domestic abuse, 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732.
Treatment that works.
The most evidence-based help for eating disorders is talk therapy. Different approaches suit different goals — your psychologist will tailor things to you.
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)
Works with the thoughts and behaviours keeping things stuck. Strong evidence across many conditions.
Acceptance & Commitment Therapy (ACT)
Helps you make room for hard feelings while still moving toward what matters to you.
Trauma-informed therapy
EMDR, schema therapy, and IFS help process past experiences gently, without re-traumatising.
Mindfulness-based approaches
Builds the ability to notice what's going on inside without getting swept up in it.
Schema and psychodynamic therapy
Works with longer-standing patterns from early life that show up in adult relationships.
Medication where helpful
Sometimes prescribed by your GP alongside therapy. Always your choice.
Talk to an Australian psychologist about eating disorders.
Every MeHelp psychologist is AHPRA-registered and Australian-trained. Sessions are online, bulk billed under Medicare where eligible, and available evenings and weekends.
AHPRA-registered
Every psychologist is Australian-trained and regulated.
Bulk billing available
Under Medicare with a Mental Health Treatment Plan.
Same-week appointments
Not three months on a public waiting list.
Evenings and weekends
Sessions fit around your schedule, online from home.
How to access support.
Most clients use a Mental Health Treatment Plan and signed referral so sessions can be bulk-billed under Medicare. NDIS, DVA, and private options are also available.
Book a GP appointment
Ask your GP for a mental health consultation. A longer appointment is best so there's time to talk through what's going on.
What do I do at the GP?Get your plan and referral
Your GP can prepare a Mental Health Treatment Plan and signed referral letter. MeHelp needs both before bulk-billed sessions can begin.
See documents requiredSend it to MeHelp
Upload your documents to our secure folder, email them, or ask your GP to fax them. We'll match you with a psychologist.
Send my planFrequently asked questions about eating disorders.
Ready to talk to a psychologist?
Same-week appointments. Bulk billing available. Online across Australia.
With a referral, or without.
Both get you to the same place — an AHPRA-registered psychologist, online. The difference is cost and a GP visit.
With a Medicare referral
Bulk billed — nothing to pay.
- Up to 10 sessions a calendar year
- Needs a GP Mental Health Treatment Plan + referral
- We bill Medicare directly
Without a referral
Pay privately — no GP required.
- No GP visit, no referral
- No session limit — go at your pace
- Often a first session this week
- Completely private — nothing shared