ED, Social Anxiety etc - What medical advice do you recommend ?

QueenRD

Hi, so basically I have the following problems..

An addiction to food, comfort eating etc. I lost 60 lbs and gained it all back due to being ditched by friends of ten years. I now feel awful all the time about it. Im going on holiday in a few weeks and I'm so nervous as I won't be able to wear anything nice. Anytime I get sad, I eat.

I never got closure with my friends. My Mum got a transplant before they ditched me and I was traumatised by the whole thing. I ignored my feelings about my friends until now as I was finishing my last year of college. Now its always on my mind and we all live in the same town and I havent been to the shops in around 6 months over fear of seeing them.

I also now struggle with self love and feel I'm a huge let down because of my weight and losing friends over nothing. They gave out to me about working 4/5 days a week. None of them had jobs they where also clearly annoyed that I was dating my boyfriend for two years and there was a bit of jealousy there.

Anyway, I'm scared to tell my GP. I live in the Clontarf area and would love to see someone in a home or something. Anyone recommend anyone ? I don't know if I should just see a shrink or see someone about an eating disorder ?

I think the eating disorder comes from depression over friends. I used to be a binge eater but I got over that myself. I find myself thinking about food all of the time and it is exhausting I have also developed social anxiety. As I said, I'm dreading the holiday. I'm a size 14/16 and I'm 5 foot 11 so big either way. I also now hate being tall and I used to love it.

Anyway if anyone has any suggestions on what type of doctor I should see or any tips for the holiday problem I would be grateful. I've left this long enough and I want to stop being embarrassed about what happened.

sam34

Start with a trip to your GP and see what they advise

alaskayoung

Hi OP,

From what you've said, it sounds to me like a visit to your GP would be very beneficial to you. It can be a very scary prospect to approach people and tell them how you've been feeling, but I can speak to you from experience, it is so unburdening to finally speak about it. There is no reason to feel nervous or embarrassed. It can be easy to build up these appointments in your mind but when it comes down to it, they are professionals and chances are they've dealt with things like this before.

Your GP will be able to advise you on how to deal with your issues with food and anxiety and direct you to any other services that you may require depending on your diagnosis. Therapy may be a good option for you to try and find coping mechanisms other than food for the problems you are facing. You'd be surprised how much you realize and learn about yourself from talking to someone. It can be very freeing.

Remember that you are not alone. Emotional eating is not an uncommon problem. Realize that in order to get past this, you will have to look deep into the reasons behind what is making you overeat. There is a wealth of resources available out there, it can be very overwhelming. Try to avoid self-diagnosing on the internet, make an appointment with your GP and they'll be able to point you in the right direction. Good luck and be proud that your taking control of this and the first steps towards overcoming it.