Juggling work, play and anorexia

Once upon a time I had a brilliant career as a freelance copywriter, working from home for businesses up and down the country, writing websites, sales letters, brochures... in short, everything to do with sales and marketing. Then anorexia invaded our home and gradually I had to cut back on work to spend more time focusing on helping my son to recover. By summer 2010, I was having to turn down work left, right and centre, trimming my business back to a couple of hours a week... if I was lucky. OK, we had to make huge financial sacrifices, but with anorexia on the scene I didn't feel much like treating myself to shopping trips or holidays, anyway. But I always said "We'll be OK as long as my husband doesn't lose his job". I think you can guess what's coming next...

Anorexia - proof of what we're up against...

With anorexia, bulimia and other eating disorders, there is a light at the end of the (often very long and grueling) tunnel for many teenagers. However the heartbreaking fact is that not everyone makes it. Statistics show that over the last ten years, the number of children hospitalised in UK NHS hospitals with eating disorders has risen by one third. A recent press release reported that there had been 800 emergency admissions for eating disorders in 2009. Statistics also show that eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of any psychiatric illness – and only 35 per cent of sufferers ever fully recover while 18.5 per cent die and the remainder semi-recover.

I'm not saying this to scaremonger, but to be realistic.

Help from other parents of teenagers with anorexia / bulimia / eating disorders

The absolutely brilliant anorexia / bulimia / eating disorders website F.E.A.S.T. has just set up a 'Hall of Fame page' comprising what its Forum contributors believe to be the most helpful posts over the past few years. (Scroll down the page to get to the list.)

Predisposed towards anorexia?

In a recent report, Child Psychologist Dr Sarah Ravin explores the belief that certain people are predisposed towards developing the particular brain disorder known as 'anorexia nervosa'. In short, she (and many other experts) believes that, while two different teenagers might embark on a weight-loss diet or significantly increase sports activities "without appropriate caloric compensation" (to give two examples only), one teenager might go on to develop anorexia nervosa whereas the other won't. The reason being that one teenager's brain chemistry is predisposed to react in a certain way to food restriction whereas the other teenager's brain is not. And anorexia is always "precipitated by a period of low nutrition".

Fatty sausages and cheese - two fingers up at the anorexia!

Two massive challenges in one meal: fatty sausages and cheesy mashed potato. Both are things which would have sent Ben into a frenzy a few months ago. But yesterday he ate both, without any problem at all. In fact, for the first time for AGES, he actually saw the sausages cooking, surrounded by oozing fat and it didn't faze him at all.

Walking and talking about the anorexia...

Over the past 18 months Ben and I have got to know the beautiful local countryside very well indeed. We've walked and talked... walked and talked again... and again... and again... across all four seasons... in the hot sun, the crunchy leaves of Autumn and the deep snow.

Anorexia parents, importance of good friends

The trouble with anorexia and other eating disorders is that many people just don't 'get it'. As a parent of an anorexia sufferer the learning curve is bad enough - I never studied as hard as this on my university degree! As a result you can feel terribly alone, as if you're living in a parallel world to everyone else.