Anorexia has the highest mortality rate of any psychiatric condition. Death comes from organ damage, sudden cardiac arrest, or suicide. Often before families see any visible physical changes. Despite this, eating disorders recieve one of the lowest research funding of any serious mental illness in Australia.

Early detection is not optional. It is a matter of life and death.

Australians are directly affected by an eating disorder right now. This is on top of the 1.1 million currently living with an eating disorder. An estimated 4 million parents, siblings, and carers are left struggling to understand why it is happening and how to help. Eating disorders are serious, complex mental illnesses. Not a phase. Not a lifestyle choice. For many teenagers, restriction and ritual are a physiological coping mechanism for a dysregulated brain trying to find safety.

Australian teens show signs of disordered eating with teen boys now accounting for 1/4 of all new cases. Indigenous teens are over 32% more likely to show signs than their non-Indigenous counterparts. Most parents miss the early signs. By the time the behaviours are obvious, the silence has already become the symptom.

of mental health challenges start before age 25. 50% start before age 14, yet there is a massive delay between the first signs and the first treatment. Suicide is the leading cause of death for young Australians, yet most wait years to get help. We can’t afford to wait. Early intervention is the key difference between a temporary struggle and a lifelong battle.