Anorexia

[AshleeCakes]

My little sister was diagnosed with anorexia recently. Things have been quite a struggle the past year with her. She is in therapy and that seems to help quite a bit. However we still have a lot of problems at home. One of my bigger concerns is that she stay healthy, as she rarely ever wants to eat. I try very hard not to make her feel like I'm forcing her to eat, because then she won't eat at all. I just want to make this all as easy as possible for everyone in our house! My sister can throw some scary temper tantrums at times. Eating disorders are some of the hardest things to cure so I'm trying to make it easy on her, too.

Anyway... any advice from someone who has dealt with anorexia would be greatly appreciated! I'm kind of at a loss here!

 

[Adanma]

I am a recovering Anorexic. I spent a good... 8 years of my life in it. I went to a treatment center for several months. I was still very active in my eating disorder even after treatment. It is really truly a matter of whether she is ready and strong enough to get better. I had to get pregnant to stop my behavior. It's a choice everyday to eat the right amount even still 6 years later. I hope and pray that she gets well. I had friends from treatment who did not make it and I thank God every day He gave me the strength to fight. Fx for you.

Adanma

 

[futuremommy91]

Not an anorexic necessarily, but I'm a bulimic (not recovered) and just wanted to say that having you care so much for her and her well-being is a huge help already.

Does she live with you and your family right now? How old is she? If she is underage and gets severely underweight (or loses a noticeable amount of weight) in the future I would highly suggest having her go to a facility. Are you her appointed guardian if she is underage? She'd most likely go kicking and screaming, but it would at least stabilize her weight for the time being.

Glad she's in therapy. Unfortunately Adanma is right- it really has to be the person's decision to get well. Sometimes it takes severe complications from the disease, a huge change (new partner, a pregnancy) or sometimes a person just realizes that this will forever be a losing battle. But sticking with her and supporting her (I'm sure her behavior can be very frustrating at times) is so huge.

 

[Phantom]

I was diagnosed with anorexia 10 years ago. It's tough because everyone is different. I am also getting my degree in psych. I will let you know some of the things that help me though:
-> remove the scale
-> eat with her, she may feel guilty or selfish eating by herself, pick something reasonable and you can both eat it
-> don't let her spend too much time online (more important than you think!)
-> be a good role model. show her that healthy is the way to go
-> help her see things to look forward to- having a reason to eat makes a big difference (ie. taking care of a baby, going on a trip, getting good grades, etc)
-> don't make a big deal out of it. Don't let her illness effect the family too much

 

[Croc-O-Dile]

-> eat with her, she may feel guilty or selfish eating by herself, pick something reasonable and you can both eat it

Feel this one out before hand though. I have anorexia and the one thing that always throws me into an "episode" is when I'm forced to eat in front of people. Some people, like Phantom said, feel guilty eating by themselves, while others (like me) feel disgusted when eating with people and need to hide the fact that they eat at all.

One thing you should steer clear of is telling her she "looks healthy" or anything of the sort if you notice her putting on a bit of weight or if it looks like she's recovering. While this may seem like an encouraging compliment, it's actually very similar to if you just came out and said she was fat. Even though it has good intentions, to someone with an ED "healthy" almost always translates to fat.

I really hope your sister is able to get out of this. And good job on your part for being there for her.