You Must Be Hungry

Treatment is a subjective experience. It may be dictated by prescription – but its success is down to how it works in relation to you...
My experiences of recovering from chronic anorexia bulimia echo those described by Sheila. Making the mental transition from viewing an eating disorder as an asset – to an illness, was the first step in the road for recovery for me. Taking responsibility and ownership of the process was paramounnt - and followed by experimentation with a range of therapeutic and practical treatments, a lot of honesty, and time....don’t give up if the impact’s not immediate.

Treatment is a subjective experience. It may be dictated by prescription – but its success is down to how it works in relation to you...
My experiences of recovering from chronic anorexia bulimia echo those described by Sheila. Making the mental transition from viewing an eating disorder as an asset – to an illness, was the first step in the road for recovery for me. Taking responsibility and ownership of the process was paramounnt - and followed by experimentation with a range of therapeutic and practical treatments, a lot of honesty, and time....don’t give up if the impact’s not immediate.

The only worse place I can think of is if one of Michael Vick's kids wanted to be a vet!

Forget about your daughter for a second, (If you can) do you have a coping strategy for yourself?

Don't be afraid to talk through some of these issues with a professional, friend or colleague.

Cheers

I'd like to invite you to read the www.maudsleyparents.org and the eatingwithyouranorexic.com websites. Also, to consider becoming a member of FEAST-ED. We are a group of parents, many of whom (but not all) have treated our ill loved ones using family based therapy. A full explanation of this approach is available on these sites. At the current time, this is the recommended, evidence-based approach for adolescents with duration of illness less than 3 years.

anne

I've just found your blog, so my comments are a bit behind!

I've had an eating disorder for most of my life, and thus, I've had a number of treatment experiences. Currently, I'm at a treatment center that is based in DBT (dialectical behavior therapy). DBT is by no means the only treatment they used - it's NEVER used as the sole form of treatment, bur rather, in conjunction with personal therapy, family therapy (in many cases), work with a nutritionist, etc., etc. But learning DBT skills - mindfulness, distress tolerance, interpersonal skills, emotion regulation - has been absolute invaluable for me. Mindfulness has helped me stay focused on what I need to do in recovery today (or even in this moment!), rather than overwhelming myself with thinking about how I'll maintain recovery forever. Also, learning dialectical thinking (simply put, thinking in a "both/and" rather than an "either/or" or "but" sort of way) has been CRUCIAL in helping me derail the all or nothing thinking that feeds eating disorders.

Also, one thing that my current treatment team and treatment center has given me is the experience of true compassion that never falters. It's hard to describe in a few words (actually, I find it hard to describe in many words!), but I wrote a blog post about it called "Killing Ed with Kindness." You can find it here: http://sayhealth.wordpress.com/2009/10/06/killing-ed-through-kindness/

As a psychologist who has treated eating disorders for over 20 years, I am thrilled you and your daughter have written some of your story, and hope the good comments keep coming. Some readers might also be interested in the self-help ebook I have just published: http://web.me.com/susaneallen/Leaving_the_Labyrinth/Home.html
which is a compilation of some of the tools which my clients benefit from. Not a cure by any means, but some good tools to use during and after the recovery process.

Many thanks -
Dr. Susan E. Allen
www.susaneallen.net