my Aunt Charlene sent me this link last week. it's a public service message from the sorority Delta Gamma. the message is a good one - particularly that it encourages friends and family who think a loved one might have an eating disorder to do something about it - say something, tell someone, make noise. it even goes so far to say that it's worth losing a friendship. a powerful, scary statement and easier said than done, but true.
when i first developed anorexia at the age of 13, it was my friend courtney, a very brave 8th grader, who called my parents and told them they needed to get me help. she was a recovering anorexic herself who had just spent three months in an inpatient program. i imagine she saw a bit of herself reflected in me, and wanted to stop it before i became a full on facsimile. i think i recall being sort of pissed at her (like most co-anorexics, i probably thought she was jealous), but i thank heavens she had the chutzpah to do what she did. i got help before it got too horribly bad. sure, i've struggled with eating disorders since then, but never to the extreme that some people do - i never had to spend time in a hospital; i haven't suffered from serious medical problems as a result of my disorder (yet) - and i credit that early intervention with keeping me from slipping into the abyss.
so anyway...don't just sit there...say something. sure - hard to think of what to say in such a situation, but far easier than trying to think of what to say at a funeral.
i know that sounds extreme, but people die from these disorders:
Anorexia nervosa has the highest premature fatality rate of any mental illness (Sullivan, 1995).
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