The pandemic has negatively impacted the mental health of many, from social distancing guidelines to reduced accessibility for care. More specifically, COVID-19 has worsened eating disorders (ED). This can be due to a number of factors like disruption to routine which can translate into poor eating and sleeping habits, exposure to media and the fear of catching the virus. All these factors ultimately lead to increased stress, lack of control and the inability for emotional regulation.
Several studies across the world have shown how increased anxiety has resulted in the relapse of many people who were on the road to recovery. From binge-eating and restricting to purging, the incidence of all these activities has increased during the pandemic. A study published in the Journal of Eating Disorders seeks to understand this impact in UK. The study was conducted by means of a survey and the sample was only people with anorexia were in the sample. Conducting such studies is valuable as besides increasing awareness it can also improve future public health services and policies.
The results indicated that the symptoms of ED had worsened for around 86.7% of the participants. There were eight themes generated by the authors to explain this trend, some of which include changes to living situation, greater social isolation with social distancing measures and changes in access to healthcare services. The findings also suggest that patients suffering from ED might benefit from remote health treatment, although more research has to be conducted to ascertain that. A possible limitation in adopting tele-health might be the reduced access to patients who lack good technology and internet access, furthering widening the inequalities in health care that are already prevalent.
These studies and more looking into cross-cultural comparisons on how different countries are trying to treat ED during these trying times can increase the scope of knowledge and help health care authorities across the world make more informed choices.
By: Sanya Bansal