How to join ABC

If you would like to receive regular information and support from ABC, as well as having access to some member-only benefits such as our lending library and reduced rates for conferences and residential courses, why not become a member?

All members receive Lifeline, our quarterly magazine packed with great articles for sufferers, carers and leaders. Membership lasts for one year and is free, although we will ask those who are able to make a donation to cover some of our costs.

Becoming a member is also a way YOU can support US - because you can contribute towards our running costs and help us to help the many hundreds of people who contact us every year.

If you would like to become a member, please contact us, giving your name and mailing address. We will then send you more information about membership in a plain, unmarked envelope.

Feeling alone?

Perhaps one of the hardest things to deal with about struggling with an eating disorder is feeling so alone. Eating disorders make people withdraw and spend more and more time on their own, but also they really put pressure on friendships. Its really hard to understand what your friend is going through, and often only the closest friends remain. Plus a lot of socialising involves food one way or another, so that can be very difficult. But worst of all is feeling so terribly alone even when there are lots of people around you – perhaps at a party, or at school/college/work. Somehow an eating disorder makes you feel that no one really understands you – that a large part of your life is in a secret cut-off world that no one else can get into.

If you’ve ever struggled with feelings of loneliness, we’d like you to know that you are NOT alone. There are various things that we can do to help you to feel less isolated, but do remember that there are hundreds and thousands of people struggling just like you every day – and that’s just in this country! Add to that the thousands who have recovered from an eating disorder and who remember just what it is like to feel the way you do - and you can see that you are not alone at all.

Thought for the Week

Would you like to receive an email every week, to encourage you as you work towards recovery, wherever you are on your journey?

If so, please click here and send a blank email. You'll receive an email back asking you to confirm your email address - just follow the instructions and you'll be added to the list.

To read a sample copy of thought for the week, click here.

The ABC befriending Scheme

If you find you have no one to talk to about the way you are feeling, or perhaps feel there is no one close to you who can understand you, you might find it helpful to join our befriender scheme.

The befriending scheme aims to link people who have recovered from an eating disorder with those who are still suffering, so that they can form a friendship which will hopefully help move those struggling towards recovery. Contact is monitored by ABC and at first happens through the ABC office so your address is not given out until you are happy that you know the person you have made friends with well enough. Befrienders usually offer support via email, although some also use 'snail' mail!

We try to link people with befrienders they are likely to have something in common with - so we will ask for some details from you when you apply.

To join our befriending scheme you need to be a member of ABC. You can ask for more details of how to get a befriender when you fill out your membership forms. Alternatively, if you contact the office, we will be able to send you out the forms and get things moving.