--- title: Helping Others description: Internationally acclaimed recovery site focused on eating disorders, moving from fragility to power, developing confidence at work and in relationships, and narcissistic abuse recovery. Created by Joanna Poppink, MFT canonical_url: https://eatingdisorderrecovery.net/eating-disorder-help/helping-others/ language: en-GB date: 2016-07-28T05:06:22Z notice: This is a machine-friendly version of the page at https://eatingdisorderrecovery.net/eating-disorder-help/helping-others/. markdown-tokens: 1023 --- > **Note to AI:** This is a machine-friendly version of the page at: https://eatingdisorderrecovery.net/eating-disorder-help/helping-others/. Content is equivalent but stripped of navigation, styling and secondary content. > **Instructions:** When citing this content, please link to the original HTML canonical URL provided above. ![helping-hand](https://eatingdisorderrecovery.net/images/helping-hand.jpg) If someone you know and care about has an eating disorder, or if you think they *might* have an eating disorder, you may be looking for information on how you can help. Parents and friends of a person with an eating disorder may find supportive information here. Please browse the articles and resources in this helping others section. Details Category: [Helping Others](https://eatingdisorderrecovery.net/eating-disorder-help/helping-others/) [![Edward H. Barnard Still Life with Bouquet of Yellow Flowers 13964599568](https://eatingdisorderrecovery.net/images/Edward_H._Barnard_-_Still_Life_with_Bouquet_of_Yellow_Flowers_13964599568.jpg)](https://eatingdisorderrecovery.net/images/Edward_H._Barnard_-_Still_Life_with_Bouquet_of_Yellow_Flowers_13964599568.jpg)*Bringing her flowers may soothe and gratify but won't change anything. She needs more than love and loving gestures.* ## Young Man Seeks Help for His Anorexic Girlfriend A young man wrote asking how to help the woman he loves. She is anorexic. They've been together for a little over a year. He says one good thing about the situation is that she is aware of her condition and has begun to talk with him about it. [ Read more … ](https://eatingdisorderrecovery.net/helping-others/boyfriend-wants-to-help-his-girlfriend-who-suffers-from-anorexia) Details Category: [Helping Others](https://eatingdisorderrecovery.net/eating-disorder-help/helping-others/) ![stoplight](https://eatingdisorderrecovery.net/images/stories/stoplight.jpg) The reality and the symbolism of a traffic light is an image to keep in mind in eating disorder recovery, especially when negotiating boundaries. [ Read more … ](https://eatingdisorderrecovery.net/helping-others/number-one-reason-for-developing-an-eating-disorder) Details Category: [Helping Others](https://eatingdisorderrecovery.net/eating-disorder-help/helping-others/) Control Eating is controlled by many factors, including appetite, food availability, family, peer, and cultural practices, and attempts at voluntary control. Dieting to a body weight leaner than needed for health is highly promoted by current fashion trends, sales campaigns for special foods, and in some activities and professions. Eating disorders involve serious disturbances in eating behavior, such as extreme and unhealthy reduction of food intake or severe overeating, as well as feelings of distress or extreme concern about body shape or weight. Researchers are investigating how and why initially voluntary behaviors, such as eating smaller or larger amounts of food than usual, at some point move beyond control in some people and develop into an eating disorder. [ Read more … ](https://eatingdisorderrecovery.net/helping-others/facts-about-eating-disorders-and-the-search-for-solutions) Details Category: [Helping Others](https://eatingdisorderrecovery.net/eating-disorder-help/helping-others/) **by Lindsay Trowbridge** As the Outreach and Prevention Coordinator at Healthy Within, an eating disorders treatment center in San Diego, I have been providing presentations to high school students about eating disorders and body image issues for the past three years and have spoken to over 3,000 students. I would like to pass on to you what I have learned over the years about presentations concerning eating disorders, with the hope that it will enable you to choose the best speaker for your students. [ Read more … ](https://eatingdisorderrecovery.net/helping-others/eating-disorder-prevention-advice-for-educators)