Support for you
Alongside service interventions, there is a wide range of resources available, which you may find helpful, to support yourself, or others, experiencing an eating disorder or disordered eating. If you think you need help or someone you know needs help, please contact your GP in the first instance or NHS 111. Your GP will be able to guide you to the right resources and services most appropriate for your needs.
if you need urgent help or treatment
- Contact 999 for police or ambulance, or visit your local A&E.
- Call you local crisis number
- Bradford: Visit the First Response webpage, call 0800 952 1181 or 01274 221181
- Kirkless and Calderdale: Visit the Single Point of Access page or 01924 316830
- Leeds: Call 0800 183 1485
- Wakefield: Visit the Single Point of Access webpage or call 01924 316900
If you need to speak to someone right now
There are a range of 24 hour helplines, who can support you or a loved one. They can offer impartial advice and support.
- Samaritans Free phone: 116 123
- Beat helpline: 0300 123 3355
Other local helplines and online support
Lots of supports can be found online and across different areas.
- Visit the A&E Bradford Royal Infirmary, Airedale General Hospital
- Visit the First Response webpageor call 0800 952 1181 or 01274 221181
- Visit the Mind website, call 0800 1884884, 01274 730815 or email admin@mindinbradford.org.uk
- Visit the Healthy Minds website
- Visit the A&E Calderdale Royal Hospital
- Visit the First Response webpage call 0800 952 1181 or 01274 221181
- Visit the Healthy Minds website or call 01422 345154
- Mental Health Helpline: 0800 1830558
- Visit the Recovery Steps webpage or call 01422 415550
- Visit the Safe Space webpage or call 01422 345 154
- Visit the Single Point of Access webpage or call 01924 316830
- Visit the Staying Well webpage or call 01422 392767
- Visit the Women Centre website or call 01422 386500
- Visit the A&E Dewsbury District Hospital, Huddersfield Royal Infirmary
- Visit the Here For You webpage
- Mental Health helpline: 0800 1830558
- Visit the Single Point of Access webpage or call 01924 316830
- Visit the Women Centre webpage or call 01422 386500
- Visit the A&E Leeds General Infirmary, St James’ Hospital
- Connect Helpline: 0808 8001212
- Dial House: 0113 2609328
- Here For You
- Mental health helpline: 0800 1830558
- Visit the Mindwell website
- Visit the Single Point of Access webpage or call 01924 316830
- Visit the A&E at Pinderfields Hospital
- Visit the Here For You website
- Visit the Livewell website or call 01924 255363
- Mental health helpline: 0800 1830558
- Visit the Single Point of Access webpage or call 01924 316900
- Visit the Turning Point website or call 01924 234860
- Battle Scars website
- Visit the Beat website, call 0808 8010677, email help@beateatingdisorders.org.uk, or use the Support groups
- Visit the CALM website or call 0800 585858
- Visit the FRANK website, call the helpline on 0300 1236600, or email frank@talktofrank.com
- Visit the Mencap Learning Difficulty website, call the helpline on 0808 8081111 or email helpline@mencap.org.uk
- Visit the Night Owls website or call 0800 1488244
- Rethink website
- Visit the Samaritans website or call 116 123
- Visit the SANEline webpage or call 0300 3047000
- Visit the SHOUT website or text SHOUT to 85258
- BRIGHT: A free, confidential mental health crisis text service for people of all ages in West Yorkshire. Text BRIGHT to 85258
- Visit the The Mix website or text THEMIX to 85258
Papyrus 0800 0684141
Self-help tools
See a list of recommended resources.
Books are a great tool. There are a number of self-help books which are recommended to support people to recover from an eating disorder. A selection of these are listed below.
- Overcoming Binge Eating (Fairburn) https://www.cbte.co/self-help-programmes/self-help-book/ – suitable for people with bulimia nervosa or binge eating disorder
- Overcoming anorexia nervosa (Freeman and Cooper, 2009). Little Brown Book Group.
- Overcoming bulimia self-help course: A self-help practical manual using cognitive behavioural techniques (3 Book Set) (Cooper, 2007). Robinson.
- Overcoming Bulimia Nervosa and Binge Eating: A Guide to Recovery (Cooper, 1993). Robinson.
- Beating Overeating using compassion focussed therapy (Goss, 2011)
- The Invisible Man: A Self-help Guide for Men with Eating Disorders, Compulsive Exercise and Bigorexia (Morgan, 2008). Routledge.
- Change for the Better (Wilde McCormick, 2012)
- Skilled-based learning for caring for a loved one with an eating disorder: The new Maudsley method (Treasure, Smith and Crane, 2007). Routledge.
- Eating Problems Booklet (Mind)
- A Cognitive Interpersonal Therapy Workbook for Treating Anorexia Nervosa: The Maudsley Model (Schmidt, Startup & Treasure, 2019)
Apps can make information more easily accessible, because you can literally carry it around in your pocket.
When using apps for wellbeing, it is important to be mindful of how they make you feel and how healthy your relationship is with the app, in-particular with eating disorders. See some of our recommendations below:
Eating disorder recovery and body image
- Rise up + Recover
- Recovery Record
- Brighter Bite
- Mindshift CBT
Mental health and self-development
- Balance
- Headspace
- Bloom
- Happy Place
- 8 Week Mindfulness
- Frantic World
- How to be a compassionate friend to yourself
- How to better understand how to change any habit
- Feeling vulnerable?
- How to better understand the shame you feel
- Feel like you are trapped in negative and harmful thinking cycles?
- How do I understand my feelings?
- Freeing self from pain
- A short exercise to help you question your thoughts
- Understanding the link between mind, consciousness and thoughts
- Where your experiences are really coming from
- Why am I struggling to change my habits?
- How starvation effects your behaviours
- How to better understand the needs all humans have including you
- Where is our experience of life coming from?
- Better understanding the brain and where insights come from
Social Media is a dominant element in our society, both with helpful and unhelpful sources. We recognise that it can be hard and confusing to figure out fact from fiction, and helpful from unhelpful sources. We have selected a few of our helpful Instagram profiles who we find educational, uplifting and empowering. See some of our recommendation below:
Instagram:
