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Author:
Peter Morrisson

In March 2003 our then 13 year old daughter, Helen, was diagnosed with anorexia nervosa, at which point she was on the verge of being emaciated. Her BMI was approximately 15.

My initial reluctance to accept this diagnosis was dispelled towards the end of the month when Helen became severely dehydrated and suffered a complete nervous breakdown as the anorexia finally took total control of both her mind and body. It may sound melodramatic, but it was as if she had become possessed. Helen’s reaction, when encouraged to drink a glass water in order to ease the stomach cramps caused by the dehydration, was uncharacteristically aggressive and resulted in an hysterical screaming fit which unnerved both myself and Fiona, my ex-wife. Helen flew into a rage and began to scream: “IT'S WEIGHT, IT'S WEIGHT, IT'S WEIGHT!”

At this point, we realised that we had no control over Helen whatsoever. However, by June 2003, only three months later, Fiona and myself had broken the illness and Helen was able to return to school. By September 2003 Helen had attained her perfect weight and the illness had been completely eradicated from her psyche. By January 2004, Helen was signed off by the adolescent mental health unit, her psychiatrist commenting that it was “one of the quickest recoveries” from mental illness that he had ever seen.

In order to break the anorexia, my ex-wife and myself devised a radical treatment programme which was contrary to the advice of the medical specialists and which, for a number of weeks, put us in direct confrontation with them. Throughout this period, I rigorously maintained the validity of our approach and predicted that the anorexia would be “done and dusted” by Christmas. Helen’s psychiatrist was extremely sceptical and was clearly concerned by what he must have perceived as my over-confidence. The very next day, Fiona received a phone call (May 2003) in which it was suggested that I was actively perpetuating the illness and we were both summarily summoned to an emergency meeting set for the following week. However, before the meeting could take place, our approach finally started to show results and Helen put on two pounds, thus attaining her highest weight in two months. As a result, the meeting became a rather muted affair and it was agreed that we would be monitored but essentially left to continue Helen's recovery via our own methods.

In the various sections of our website: www.escape-from-anorexia.com we have set out to explain exactly how we rescued Helen from this dreadful illness using a combination of diet, exercise and confidence building measures. Helen also contributes, providing invaluable testimony as to what it felt like to be anorexic and explaining how we, her parents, were able to break the iron grip that the anorexic mindset had upon her.

We are not necessarily advocating our strategies to anybody else but we do sincerely hope that our account of Helen’s record-breaking recovery may present some useful insights which might make a difference to you and your child.

Peter Morrisson
http://www.escape-from-anorexia.com

A Quick Note From The Publisher... If you like the article above, you may be interested in the following article which is also related to Eating Disorders... Eating Disorders - Bulimia Nervosa Effects In this second article on Bulimia Nervosa we're going to go over the effects the disease can have on the body and how to treat it. Bulimia nervosa can have devastating effects on a person's body if the disease goes unchecked for a long period of time. The most serious of these is electrolyte imbalances which are caused by the constant bingeing and purging. These imbalances can lead to irregular heartbeat. If the problem goes on long enough this can lead to heart failure and death. The actual cause of the electrolyte imbalance is because of loss of potassium and sodium from the body and dehydration because of the constant purging. Another serious problem is caused by the frequent vomiting. That problem is inflammation of the esophagus, which at best can cause difficulty in breathing and at worst possible rupture. Another problem people with Bulimia Nervosa suffer from, while maybe not as serious as the ones mentioned already, is tooth decay from the frequent vomiting. This decay can eventually lead to tooth loss. While that may not sound all that terrible, it has been shown in studies that people who have their own teeth live longer than people who wear dentures. So this is something to be concerned about. Because of the constant laxative use a person suffering from this disease will eventually have infrequent and irregular bowel movements and most likely end up suffering from chronic constipation. This can cause more serious problems down the road if this condition persists for any length of time. And finally there is the possibility of gastric rupture because of the binge eating. This particular problem is very rare, even in the worst cases of Bulimia Nervosa, but nevertheless the possibility still exists, especially if the disease goes untreated for...