Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I should almost start a new thread asking for advice on how to help someone who has a bulimic child who is technically an adult and can refuse treatment - it feels like a stalemate. She isn’t capable of surviving on her own but she doesn’t want to get help. According to her mom, she’s going to therapy once a week to appease her mom but that’s really it. And she’s losing weight pretty rapidly. My friend told me this morning that they’re hoping now, ironically, that she loses enough weight to have to go to ER and get admitted for a stay (this has happened in the past).

Is there a psychiatrist involved? Would she be more amenable to treatment for depression or anxiety? What was the reason for withdrawal from school? Was it just the weight loss or other issues as well?

She’s seeing a therapist who specializes in eating disorders - the therapist is a psychologist. Her GP manages her medications. From what I understand the withdrawing from school was because she was so anxious. I think her underlying issue is anxiety and the bulimia is how she deals with it. I don’t want to oversimplify things but that’s the basic situation. Her therapist wants her to have autonomy to dictate her treatment and thinks it’s important for her mom and dad to allow her to be responsible for her appointments etc, but my friend (her dad) is definitely afraid that in doing so they’re just allowing their daughter to stay in her illness. As far as he has told me she came home to get well but she’s only gotten sicker.

Anonymous wrote:I should almost start a new thread asking for advice on how to help someone who has a bulimic child who is technically an adult and can refuse treatment - it feels like a stalemate. She isn’t capable of surviving on her own but she doesn’t want to get help. According to her mom, she’s going to therapy once a week to appease her mom but that’s really it. And she’s losing weight pretty rapidly. My friend told me this morning that they’re hoping now, ironically, that she loses enough weight to have to go to ER and get admitted for a stay (this has happened in the past).

Is there a psychiatrist involved? Would she be more amenable to treatment for depression or anxiety? What was the reason for withdrawal from school? Was it just the weight loss or other issues as well?

Anonymous wrote:I should almost start a new thread asking for advice on how to help someone who has a bulimic child who is technically an adult and can refuse treatment - it feels like a stalemate. She isn’t capable of surviving on her own but she doesn’t want to get help. According to her mom, she’s going to therapy once a week to appease her mom but that’s really it. And she’s losing weight pretty rapidly. My friend told me this morning that they’re hoping now, ironically, that she loses enough weight to have to go to ER and get admitted for a stay (this has happened in the past).

That’s not an uncommon strategy.

I should almost start a new thread asking for advice on how to help someone who has a bulimic child who is technically an adult and can refuse treatment - it feels like a stalemate. She isn’t capable of surviving on her own but she doesn’t want to get help. According to her mom, she’s going to therapy once a week to appease her mom but that’s really it. And she’s losing weight pretty rapidly. My friend told me this morning that they’re hoping now, ironically, that she loses enough weight to have to go to ER and get admitted for a stay (this has happened in the past).

Anonymous wrote:I think that’s worth noting that for anxiety and depression, the average hospitalization is a week. Eating disorders, substance abuse, self-harm (cutting), and schizophrenia or any psychosis will likely be longer. But still not months and months usually. So the question becomes what does the college student do with the rest of their leave. Partial hospitalization programs with intensive therapy are a good short term plan, but then there needs to be a way of reintroducing light duties and normal activities.

When I took a medical leave from college many years ago, I did some regular volunteering and took voice lessons once a week.