Chelmsford woman opens up about struggles with eating disorder ahead of Mental Health Day

03 Oct Chelmsford woman opens up about struggles with eating disorder ahead of Mental Health Day

by Dan Bryans

The 10 October is World Mental Health Day, an international event that aims to encourage discussion about mental health issues. This year, the focus is mental health in the workplace.

29year old Rebecca Quinlan from Chelmsford, developed an eating disorder in the first year of university and struggled to find the right help!

Beat, the UK’s eating disorder charity, is calling on workplaces to be responsible and replace any stigma and misunderstanding with support and understanding for eating disorder sufferers.

Rebecca recalled her ordeal saying “My eating disorder developed during my first year at university. Within 8 months I had lost nearly half my body weight. I could barely walk or talk but I had gone unnoticed by staff (even though one of my lessons involved getting into a swimming costume once a week).”

Discussing the challenges she faced at the time Rebecca added “It was left to my flatmates to call my parents who came to take me home, from which I spent the next 3 years in and out of hospital. When I returned to university after 3 years away, whilst the disability centre offered help and support, the admin and many academic staff did not.”

Mental health problems are all too common in the workplace and are the leading cause of sickness absence. In 2016, research from Beat found that one in three eating disorder sufferers experience stigma or discrimination at work.

Tom Quinn of Beat weighed in on the matter saying “Workplaces can play an active role in tackling stigma and supporting a person’s recovery by making reasonable adjustments.”

He added “For this reason, the stigma and misunderstanding experienced by so many in the workplace must be replaced with support and understanding led by a formal mechanism of support.”

Mental health problems are all too common in the workplace and are the leading cause of sickness absence. In 2016, research from Beat found that one in three eating disorder sufferers experience stigma or discrimination at work.