
Charlotte’s Helix were out and about with a team from KCL BioResource yesterday at the first ever conference hosted by Men Get Eating Disorders Too, a charity supporting men with eating disorders and their friends and families.
We had a great day, and benefited from hearing and learning more about male and transgender experiences - with illness, with treatment, with recovery, and with peer support - and about the particular roadblocks that are suffered by all those affected - and we also endeavoured to brainstorm some ideas for solutions.
We heard from different parts of the UK working together with MGEDT - movingly from the Laurence Trust in Northern Ireland, raising awareness and finding ways to help a population with very particular difficulties as a result, in part, of the legacy of the conflicts there, and from the Scottish organisation MBEEDS about their work and vision.
We heard from Fixers campaigner, Danny Bowman about his recovery from BDD, and we enjoyed a thought provoking, and engaging Keynote speech from Dr Russell Delderfield from Bradford University, amongst other professional and personal perspectives from many many more (the programme is still up to view on the MGEDT website).
All in all a day of engagement, a variety of information and points of view to share, no shortage of courage in the room, a great lunch (always important!), and an opportunity to meet and talk with those with a particular interest in some under-represented groups in the more general discourse of eating disorders. Many there seemed interested to find out more about the nuances of the research that we are engaged in with #AN25K and its global reach and breadth of vision. This research is looking toward a future in which we will understand a great deal more about eating disorders - who may be at risk, how we can diagnose, and the possibilities to personalise treatment across the spectrum of all those who may be affected by them.
We had a great day, and benefited from hearing and learning more about male and transgender experiences - with illness, with treatment, with recovery, and with peer support - and about the particular roadblocks that are suffered by all those affected - and we also endeavoured to brainstorm some ideas for solutions.
We heard from different parts of the UK working together with MGEDT - movingly from the Laurence Trust in Northern Ireland, raising awareness and finding ways to help a population with very particular difficulties as a result, in part, of the legacy of the conflicts there, and from the Scottish organisation MBEEDS about their work and vision.
We heard from Fixers campaigner, Danny Bowman about his recovery from BDD, and we enjoyed a thought provoking, and engaging Keynote speech from Dr Russell Delderfield from Bradford University, amongst other professional and personal perspectives from many many more (the programme is still up to view on the MGEDT website).
All in all a day of engagement, a variety of information and points of view to share, no shortage of courage in the room, a great lunch (always important!), and an opportunity to meet and talk with those with a particular interest in some under-represented groups in the more general discourse of eating disorders. Many there seemed interested to find out more about the nuances of the research that we are engaged in with #AN25K and its global reach and breadth of vision. This research is looking toward a future in which we will understand a great deal more about eating disorders - who may be at risk, how we can diagnose, and the possibilities to personalise treatment across the spectrum of all those who may be affected by them.
A big thank you to @Sam_Thomas86, founder and Director of MGEDT, for putting together a thorough and diverse programme, and for allowing us the opportunity to talk directly to the delegates of #MGEDT15 We hope that we found some supporters there, and if there is anyone who would like to know more, please do get in touch with us and we would be delighted to talk to you. |