Anorexia - relapse and recovery

Red.Ink.Rain

Not your kid brother's YA
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Dec 24, 2008
Messages
8,965
Reaction score
1,219
Location
Your face
Website
kristin-briana.livejournal.com
I have a protagonist for my new YA novel who is a recovering anorexic. She fell in with a crowd of "popular" queen-bee kind of girls her freshman year and spent the next two years trying to be good enough. As a result she became severely anorexic and has now been in therapy for several months. While she is slowly gaining weight, she is still very thin, very self-conscious, and has a difficult time being with people.

That said, I don't know a lot about the recovery process for anorexia. If anyone has dealt with this disorder, I would really appreciate hearing your story. I know it's a touchy subject, so if you'd feel more comfortable PMing me, I understand. Anything is helpful. Thanks!

~kristin
 

IceCreamEmpress

Hapless Virago
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Nov 2, 2007
Messages
6,449
Reaction score
1,321
A lot of people share their accounts of eating disorders and recovery at the website somethingfishy.org.
 

Horseshoes

lisapreston.com
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jul 29, 2007
Messages
827
Reaction score
104
Location
Pacific Northwet
Website
www.lisapreston.com
The key point is that it is a mental disorder manifesting as a physical problem. There are physical treatments...blood work, nutritional supplementation but if the mental issues are not addressed (and they're huge) the person will continue to suffer, perhaps die.

Try Joan Ryan's "Littel Girls in Pretty Boxes"...about elite skaters and gymnasts, but of course includes the anorexia issue, including one young woman's death. Good book.
 

Calixus

OMG! What'd you say then??
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jan 8, 2009
Messages
853
Reaction score
88
Location
The Smoky Mountains of Tennessee (go Vols!)
Being Anorexic has dual problems. Most of us have feelings of very low self-esteem, and visualization that we are too fat. The other side of the coin is that the important things in our life are spiraling out of control and micromanaging our eatting is the only control we have left. So hand in hand the two psychological problems create the anorexia. Once it starts, it is very difficult to break out of. I am currently going through it for the third time and for all the same reasons, just different persons/situations. There are some appetite stimulates out there but I don't use them because they can have other problems. As an above poster mentioned, the best treatment is the cure of the underlying problems that set it off to begin with. Counseling is the best way I have discovered to date. Antidepressants might be helpful also, but there are so many out there now, I can't really tell you which ones are best. Hope this is helpful.