A recovered anorexia patient and psychotherapist said we should be talking about extreme celebrity weight loss - because "to stay silent is to normalise it".

Helen Burke-Tennant, 37, faced anorexia in her early 20s after experiencing attachment issues in childhood and using food as a way to bring control into her life.

She introduced food rules to the extent that she became malnourished, lost her period and ended up getting support from mental health facilities when her weight plummeted.

Fans of Ariana Grande have expressed concern over her weight and appearance.

The singer's spokesperson revealed last month that Ariana will be taking a step back from the spotlight after the conclusion of her current tour.

Helen said people feel scared to discuss famous womens' weight loss "under the guise of feminism" and not wanting to discuss women's bodies - often with good intentions - but says we shouldn't be ignore signs of significant weight loss in those around us.

Instead, we need to discuss it in a "loving and compassionate way", she says, because "if we don't discuss it we're normalising, or even glorifying it".

Helen, based in Richmond, London, said: "As a nation what we are sitting back and watching what may well be a woman in huge amounts of pain.

"We of course don't want to be objectifying women but there's a point where if we don't discuss it we're normalising, or even glorifying it.

"When I was ill, I got to a weight where a GP told me that my heart might stop in the night because of the amount of strain on my organs. And I wasn't as thin as Ariana is right now.

"If nobody comments on what we're seeing, we're not publicly noticing and having compassion, the messaging for her will be that nobody cares."

Helen described how she experienced some significant childhood trauma which left her feeling unworthy - and she developed anorexia aged 21 as a way to try to numb the pain.

Throughout her 20s she battled the condition, spending time in outpatient and inpatient services both in the UK and US.

Helen said it began with her trying to lose a little bit of weight - but quickly went from being about her size to being about how to bring control into her life.

As a result, her weight plummeted, and she slipped on some steps and broke her back because she was so frail.

It wasn't until Helen had extensive therapy to unpack her own childhood traumas that she realised her weight was not the issue and just a symptom of something deeper.

She has since gone on to become a psychotherapist and clinical director of The Pathway Clinic, supporting people going through similar experiences to her own.

She said: "Often, extreme weight loss is a coping strategy which sits over the top of mental pain to get control and seek the affection a sufferer so desperately needs.

"I like to re-frame the phrase 'attention seeking' to be 'affection seeking'."

Helen explained that her own illness led to strained relationships with friends and family. She even accused waiters in restaurants of secretly adding oil to her food.

She started to get better when she sought help from a therapist and was able to start to unpack the traumas from her childhood.

Helen believes people should discuss when celebrities appear to be suffering - but with compassion, not contempt.

She said: "What we are seeing is a young woman who may be struggling to cope.

"I worry people see her as being irresponsible, but this may not be a choice she is making.

"Labelling it as triggering is just a way to ignore it - because it's something people find it uncomfortable to see, and don't know what to do when they are faced with it.

"Everyone's scared of triggering people or being disrespectful to a woman's body by talking about it, but this isn't about her body any more.

"It's not necessarily that her fans might aspire to that body themselves, but it's the exposure of young girls to extreme thinness.

"To stay silent and normalise it is nigh on impossible when she is the epitome of the thinnest you can be while still functioning."