This week, ‘Beat’ launched an online support group for fathers of people with eating disorders.
The struggle of seeing someone you love in turmoil and being unable to fix it for them – it’s an all-consuming battle for everyone involved.
And as is often the case in these situations, support for fathers is hard to come by.
Beat, the UK’s leading eating disorder charity, has just launched a weekly online support group for fathers of people with eating disorders.
Nick Pollard is one such father, who is looking forward to the positive impact and connection the support group will bring.
Nick, whose daughter had an eating disorder as a teenager, told Beat:
‘When my daughter Lizzie was very ill with anorexia she really valued Beat’s online support group, but there was nothing specifically for me as a dad. I tried, as best I could, to understand and help Lizzie – but it was a real struggle. It felt like I was cutting a new path through a dense jungle, on my own. I knew that there must be many other dads stuck in the same jungle, but I had no way of contacting them. So I am absolutely delighted that Beat is now launching this support group specifically for dads.’
Alongside its long-running groups for sufferers aged 18 and under and sufferers over 18, Beat’s support groups will now include two groups for those supporting someone with an eating disorder, including the group for fathers and one for mothers.
For more information on dealing with or supporting someone with an eating disorder and/or contact information, please see the Beat website.
Nick was on BBC Two on Tuesday on the Victoria Derbyshire show with his daughter Lizzie talking about help for fathers of children with anorexia – you can watch the piece here http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b08pvl75/victoria-derbyshire-09052017 (starts at 45.10)
Lizzie had a hard struggle with anorexia and recently wrote the book called ‘Life Hurts: a doctor’s personal journey through anorexia’. Find out more here including discussion resources from Ethos Media
