Reply to Interesting WP article about "terminal" anorexia.

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[quote=Anonymous]I have a DD who has recovered from anorexia.

Anorexia is first and foremost a starving brain.  You can't treat a starving brain with anything but food for a long time before anything improves and other therapies can help.  And in order for the brain to fully heal they may have to get their weight up much higher than most people realize and hold it there long enough for the body to stop having a response to the trauma of starvation.  And that can't really be left up to the person suffering because they.will.not.choose.to.eat.  There is no amount of therapy that will work on a starving brain.

Deep in her illness, my DD begged me to let her go.  Now, she is thriving and thanks me for not giving up on her.  Watching her reawaken as her brain was nourished and working again was amazing.  She had therapy to support her recovery but it literally was consistent nourishment for an extended period of time that did it.  And I had to make it impossible for her to do anything else for as long as it took and I could because she was a minor child.  There's such a low recovery rate for eating disorders because the environment has to impose treatment.  For many adults there is no environment to impose treatment (they can opt out of everything).

I don't know where the line should be drawn, and have empathy for people who are suffering and don't see any way out (or dealing with a terrible terminal illness).  But me not giving up on my DD was a critical part of her recovery.  I can only imagine how much more difficult it would be to have an adult child suffering from this terrible disorder, and I have so much empathy for the families in the article.  [/quote]

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