Demand for eating disorders supports soars during pandemic
Red Deer AdvocateJan 30, 2021
Red Deerians will see a purple glow coming from
For the first time, the centre is one of 12 Alberta buildings and structures participating in Landmark Lightup. Buildings in
"We ran three-and-a-half times more support groups at that time than we would normally at that time of year, and we had five times the number (of) participants," Berlinguette said.
"We saw a huge upswing in people reaching out for help," she said, including people experiencing a re-emergence of symptoms, a worsening of existing symptoms, or the development of symptoms for those who never had them before.
Berlinguette said demand continued into the summer and fall. A support group for women over 40, and another addressing binge eating, were both full with wait lists in a matter of hours of posting them on the networks' website in September.
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"With eating disorders, people tend to withdraw. Access to care is very difficult under the best of circumstances so when you layer in the pandemic, and you layer in the isolation we've all been required to live under, for all the right reasons, that has further isolated individuals."
She said prior to the pandemic there was already a lack of access to therapists and registered dietitians, and no residential treatment centre in
"Our ultimate goal is working towards creating a residential treatment for individuals in the province because nothing currently exists."
She said
Hauck said the pandemic shone a light on eating disorders and now the province better understands that there is an issue.
"Silver Linings certainly is having conversations with