This week is Maternal Mental Health Week, and the team at Orri are grateful for a space in which some of the more complex and unspoken aspects of motherhood can be shared and considered. The aim of this week is to raise awareness of the impact of mental illness both during and after pregnancy. For many this is a difficult area to approach, it is often surrounded by silence and a reluctance to explore for many reasons, but often because people feel uncertain about what to say and how to approach it.
We wanted to take a (much-needed) moment to reflect on how a parent and carer – or best friend – may be feeling whilst caring for someone with an eating disorder during lockdown.
It can be hard to know “what to do” when you see someone you care about going through hardship. Often, we can feel helpless and worried that we’re not doing enough to support them. Here are our suggestions for supporting someone who is suffering with an eating disorder.
Simply put, we all want to feel seen and heard – sufferer and carer alike – but sometimes the “issue” itself can become a seemingly impenetrable wall and honest conversation feels inferior as a means of breaking it down. Regardless, we believe that communication can happen when we truly meet and see one another.
