Eating Disorder Patients Are Socially Rejected

Tuesday, February 23, 2010, 15:49

Majority of people who suffer eating disorders are bullied by his her friends. Eighty percent of sufferers still feel stigmatised, not only by the public but also by some health professionals.

Hannah, who recovered from her eating disorder years ago, feels doctors did not trust her when they saw her medical history after she was admitted to the hospital with a life threatening condition.

"I was taken to hospital in an ambulance and when I got there the doctors saw my medical records for eating disorders," said Hannah.

The doctors couldn't believe that the teenager is suffering from such a problem. The doctors thought that the seizures Hannah was having were just an attention seeking behaviour, which they weren't.

A research done reveals many such cases where poeple suffering from eating disorders are socially rejected.

People mentioned that they were bullied. Some said others were picking on them and making disparaging comments about their eating disorder.

A five-point manifesto has been made by an NGO, urging the party winning the next election to take eating disorders more seriously.