A Tutor's perspective

Dr Henrietta Leyser, Tutor for Welfare, St Peter’s College

I am asked sometimes whether anyone with an eating disorder is wise to come to Oxford. Maybe student life here is just too hectic and too competitive to accommodate anyone who is living with this kind of problem? Maybe Oxford is even the kind of place where women (and men too) who previously were eating quite normally now start to be obsessive in one way or another about their food. Such reservations are understandable. It's an undeniable fact that there are a significant number of people at Oxford with eating disorders but is is important to remember that across the country it is precisely intelligent teenagers and young adults who are most vulnerable in this respect. The question then becomes: where can help and support be most readily obtained. Looked at in this way Oxford become an excellent place to be. Eating disorders are not, it is well-known, about food – food control or food abuse is a symptom not the problem. How to diagnose the problem demands time and support, and the kind of support that is appropriate will vary from person to person. In this, Oxford is enormously well resourced: College tutors; College Welfare Officers and support groups; College nurses and doctors; the Counselling Service; the Eating Disorder Unit at the Warnefood Hospital may all play a part in the recovery of any individual. In other words, anyone with an eating disorder can choose where to find help and s/he will be given it, in confidence, with understanding and with the highest level of professional care.