It may be the season to be jolly, full and merry, but for those with food and alcohol addictions, Christmas can be a testing time. Danielle Barronreports.
It is the general understanding that a licence to overindulge is part and parcel of the season of goodwill. Christmas parties and get-togethers have been in full swing since mid-November and that's even before we sit down to our turkey and ham on Christmas Day.
Many of us will wince as we count up all the mince pies and glasses of mulled wine we have consumed over the festive period. But for others, it is not a case of eat, drink and be merry. For those affected by eating disorders and alcohol addictions, this can be the most trying time of year.
Christmas, with its emphasis on food, can be a particularly stressful time for a person living with any type of eating disorder, explains Catherine Joyce of Bodywhys, the Eating Disorder Association of Ireland.
According to Joyce, it is crucial that they allow themselves the space and time they need to manage whatever feelings are coming up for them.
"The emphasis should be on taking care of themselves," she stresses. "It is important that they acknowledge the feelings that they are experiencing and that they access support networks available to them such as trusted family or friends or services such as
those Bodywhys provides."
Bodywhys conducted an online survey which found that binge-eating was the eating disorder most identified with by visitors to its website.
Binge-eating disorder (BED), sometimes referred to as compulsive overeating, involves repeated episodes of binging, but without purging, although there may be sporadic fasts or repeated diets. It is not always easy to identify a person with BED as body weight may vary from normal to obese.
According to Bodywhys, 4 per cent of adults in Ireland are living with binge-eating disorder with the condition affecting both men and women equally. People with the disorder often find themselves locked into a cycle of dieting, binging, self-recrimination and self-loathing, explains Joyce.
"The most important thing for a person with binge-eating disorder is to be aware of the connection between their emotions and food. It is important that they try to maintain awareness of when they are eating in response to hunger and when they are eating as an emotional response," she says.
For those dealing with alcohol addiction, Mara de Lacey, senior counsellor in the Stanhope Centre, has practical advice: "Phone numbers, phone numbers, phone numbers.
"Have plenty of people who you can contact for support if you are feeling the strain. Self-help groups such as AA and Al-Anon for family members affected by drinking should also be utilised," she says.
Many people are quite private as to their recovery and Christmas work parties can put them in awkward positions, says de Lacey.
"Everybody is promoting the notion that this is the time for us all to be friends and go and do things together," de Lacey says.
"But a lot of people do nothing with their work colleagues throughout the rest of the year and that is huge pressure if you are a private person and have been dealing with an addiction issue. People get very self-conscious, particularly if they are not drinking. You feel as though you are sticking out like a sore thumb," she says.
The important thing is to be prepared. "Don't put yourself into a situation
where you are forced to stay - take your
car. Just have the meal, get in your car and escape."
Often the busy build-up to Christmas offers distraction from problems, says de Lacey. "But the really difficult time is probably from lunchtime on Christmas Eve until midnight on St Stephen's Day, when a lot of tensions and difficulties build up.
"Normally everybody would be out and about but when everything is closed, and if drink is in the picture, things can go seriously wrong," she explains.
According to de Lacey, it is important to shop around . . . to find the most suitable AA meeting, that is.
"A rule of thumb is to go to a meeting with the sort of people you drank with. You can't go to a meeting with people who drank very differently from you as you can't relate to what they are recounting," she says.
AA meetings will be available in various locations on Christmas Day and these tend to be quite jolly, says de Lacey.
"Nobody there is denying the existence of Christmas; they are just denying the existence of alcohol for their Christmas."
A booklet called Binge-Eating: Breaking the Cycle is available for €10 from Bodywhys central office. Call 01 283 4963 or e-mail info@bodywhys.ie to order a copy.
The Stanhope Centre offers a range of recovery programmes for those who feel they have a problem with alcohol. Call: 01 6773965.