People who recover from an eating disorder represent a great repository of untapped potential in helping others to heal from this complex illness. This Friday, August 23, together with Olivia Soho and Carly Harris, I will present a workshop that explores peer support and mentoring as an innovative approach in eating disorder treatment and recovery. […]
The second article in a “patient and doctor” series on understanding eating disorders Dr. Richard Kreipe’s recollection of treating Audry After more than five years of treatment for restrictive anorexia nervosa in various inpatient and outpatient settings in which she was unable to achieve or maintain a minimal healthy body weight, Audry was branded as […]
The first article in a “patient and doctor” series on understanding eating disorders Audry Mattle, diagnosed with an eating disorder at age 13, was told that she was The Problem. She was manipulative, a hopeless case. Being a “good Audry” or “bad Audry” became defined by weight. Audry felt reduced to nothing but a number […]
By Juliana Winik When I was 14, I was admitted to the paediatric ward at our local hospital with the eating disorder, Anorexia Nervosa. My body had begun shutting down. My physical decline from well to severely ill happened rapidly. The morning I was admitted to the hospital was the first time I had heard […]
Fifty years ago, Man landed on the Moon. As an 18-year-old exchange student studying in the United States at the time, my memory is vivid of this historic moment. My memory is not so much of the grey, grainy, ghostlike outline of men in white spacesuits stepping gingerly out to a lunar landing, but of […]
I feel deeply emotional about this week’s announcement on genetic discovery. For a start, contributing a DNA sample to this ground-breaking research led by Professor Cynthia Bulik has helped me and thousands of others to feel that our lives and illness experience count. We want to ease suffering of others. Participating in this research helps […]
Euthanasia, or voluntary assisted dying laws, must not be considered a solution for a person with an eating disorder. I will proceed to explain my position on this life and death issue. Instead of death as a solution for people with eating disorders, I urge us all to focus on hope, faith, trust, life quality, […]
Imagine being told: ‘You are naughty and a burden on your family’. Survivor voices are gaining momentum in calling on health professionals to treat their patients with care and respect. Hospitals are rarely known for their warmth, colour or homely touches; not to be confused with hospitality. They are often characterised by their clinical and […]
H: How do I put on weight? DE: How do you put on your PERSON? H: As I am putting on weight, I am putting on my person. DE: Maybe you put on your person and the weight follows… June Alexander Narrative therapy works by separating people from their problems. Developed by David Epston and Michael […]
DE: What is Anorexia calling out to you at the moment, Helen? What is it saying to you as you struggle towards the Anti-Anorexic side? What is it calling out to you? HW: Punish yourself! Starve yourself! Writing was both a survival tool and a recovery tool during my incarceration with the eating disorder, anorexia […]