Professional Support (Overview)

Seeking Professional Support

Eating disorders are illnesses and it is very difficult to get better on your own. While having the support of those who care can help, most people need professional help to fully recover Doctors are able to assess your physical condition and refer you to relevant help. Eating disorders are a serious problem, and effective treatment is available, so people are strongly advised to seek professional help. It is never too late to seek help for recovery, but before you can get better YOU need to want to make the change.

What support is available? There are three levels of professional support available: primary, secondary, and tertiary.  Primary health services are self-referral. The primary health providers will then either offer treatment themselves or will refer you on up to more specialist services, as appropriate.

The primary support services in Oxford are the GPs and the University Counselling Service. Each College will have links to a GP surgery in Oxford and the Counselling Service is open to all Oxford students. You yourself make an appointment to see either and either can refer you to the secondary services. GPs may refer you across to the Counselling Service.

The secondary health care service is the Community Mental Health Team. The Department of Psychiatry is another service at this level when it is running a research programme that includes a clinical service – as they are at the time of writing.

The tertiary health care service is the Warneford Clinic of the Psychiatric Hospital, which specialises in eating disorders and has both in-patient and out-patient care.

What treatment is available?  For most people the first step is talking to their GP (usually the College Doctor). NHS Direct can help you find a local GP or you can ask at your college lodge. The GP will diagnose, and suggest further treatment through the NHS. This will depend on the severity of your disorder and can come in the form of counselling or referral to a specialist for further assessment. The type of support you will be offered will depend on your own particular disorder, and the availability of services in your area. The usual course of action is for the GP to refer the patient on for a course of cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT). This is the treatment of choice for eating disorders, and is recommended by NICE (National Institute of Clinical Excellence) guidelines (www.nice.org.uk), which were written for use by NHS healthcare professionals in England and Wales to help them provide the best possible care for people with eating disorders and their families. CBT is a course of therapy in which you try to identify and change those patterns of thinking, mood and behaviour that are unhelpful because they support the eating disorder. CBT for eating disorders is available in Oxford through GP referral to the Warneford and the success rate for this treatment is very high.