Today, I pushed another hole in the prison wall that an eating disorder erected in my brain at age 11. That wall effectively disconnected my healthy self from my body until I was 55. Thirteen years on, eating three meals and three snacks a day without guilt, shame and self-loathing is a daily joy. But […]
By Dr. Anthea Fursland Australians with an eating disorder are about to gain greater access to Medicare reimbursed evidence-based treatment. This is an enormous step forward and will benefit many people with eating disorders. A huge amount of work has gone into this change, and we have to thank the National Eating Disorders Collaboration and […]
In the early 1950s, at age 15, Dina was sent thousands of miles from her family to stay with relatives on the other side of Australia, because she was ‘difficult’ and ill. This is Dina’s story: At the time my illness struck, I was in my early teens, living in Newcastle, New South Wales (NSW), […]
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, […]