Anorexia is an Illness, not a Life Choice

Despite publicity around eating disorders today, a major block to treatment
for some young people continues to be ignorance.  Teen-agers may not get
treatment because influential adults in their lives believe anorexia is created by
willful stubbornness.  Too often, the illness propels a teen to a precarious state of health before treatment, usually residential, is sought.   

Because issues of power, control, independence and rebellion are normal in families
with teen-agers, symptoms of an eating disorder can be misinterpreted and not seen
for what they are: indications of serious illness.

Parents and adults in responsible positions who would be quick to call an ambulance
if a teen was bloodied, or quick to call a doctor if a teen was running a high
fever may not see anorexic symptoms as a signal that requires fast professional
attention..

The calls from young people can be heartbreaking.

Voices:  (paraphrased and summarized)

...  i sometimes can admit to myself that i have this problem,
that getting thinner and thinner day by day is only going to kill me, but
most of the time i just deny it all together.  the one time i tried to see
a therapist, i heard him say on his way into the room that he couldn't
understand why these g.d. kids insisted on starving themselves.  i
clammed up and never went back.

...  My coach said,  i always thought you were too smart for this sort of thing:
you are the girl  who has it all:  grades and friends and looks and a great athlete. 
with so many other kids looking up to you, you owe it to them to be a little smarter.

the "you're too smart for this" thing wiped me out. do people
really think i don't know that what i do to my body every day is killing
me?

...my parents are so proud of the way I look and how great my
grades are. I heard my mom say, 'She's amazing.  She even gets
up early so she can run on the treadmill for two hours before she
starts her day.  That must be where she gets her energy because
she doesn't have time to eat.'

....We (people of any age with suffering from anorexia) can't choose to
erase the fear of food and calories.  We can't eliminate the panic that
arises every time we eat more than the allotted number of calories or
foods that aren't safe to us.

...We're afraid all the time. We're being as courageous as we can, even
if that courage isn't strong enough to let go of our obsession.

The challenge we as the human community face is to raise the level of
eating disorder awareness in families, schools and all the health professions
so that we can help our young people quickly and effectively in the
early stages of anorexia.  Even better, we could get on the path that
would eliminate the development of anorexia entirely. That's my wish.

Joanna Poppink, MFT, psychotherapist eating disorder specialist, Los Angeles, CA

bulimia, anorexia, compulsive overeating recovery:  www.poppink.com

Comments

[Carmen]

I remember when my 14 year old neighbor became anorexic...I was away at college and my family had told me about it; I didn't really believe it until I saw her a few weeks later and I was shocked. I can only imagine what her parents were going through! Situations like that can be so tricky - That's why the A&E show Intervention is so important. It shows all sides of addiction and all the people involved, and uses a highly qualified team of specialists to help people get on the road to recovery. I'm working with A&E because I think this show can really change lives. You can see more about it at http://www.aetv.com/intervention. New episodes air every Monday at 9pm/8c. Let me know what you think!

[Joanna]

Dear Carmen,

Thank you for your comment, and I'm glad to know about the program. I have a lot of conflict about such shows. On the one hand I am unhappy about vulnerable people placing themselves in the public eye while they are revealing such personal material to others and to themselves.

I think these people are placing themselves at increased risk by exposing themselves to the millions of eyes on the other side of the cameras.

However, if the programs are done well with sensitivity and intelligence they can be great teaching tools for an audience that knows little about the disorders and the issues involved. The more accurate information we can put into the world about eating disorders and the profound effect they have on countless people's lives the better chance we have of establishing not only substantial recovery efforts but also ways of preventing eating disorders altogether.

I think the issue comes down to personal values and beliefs. I would not recommend that a person with an eating disorder volunteer to be on such a show. Yet I know that people with eating disorders can benefit from watching such a program.

I don't think the knowledge given to the public via these programs justifies the sacrifice the participants may make over the long term.