Thank you. Feel free to forward my blog to anyone whom you think may benefit from reading it. I’m both humbled and pround to think that my writing may actually have a positive impact by changing school policies, by helping parents care for their ill children, by urging other professionals to use effective, evidence-based approaches, or by encouraging people to think critically about issues that I believe are important.

This is such a well-written, thorough, and incredibly important article. I have
been trying for years to make these same points to the administrators at my
children’s schools. Your blog is so well-written and persuasive, I am going to
forward it to school administrators in hopes they will finally make this a part of
their parent education program. Thank you for continuing to be such an articulate
advocate for evidence-based treatment for eating disorders and for maximizing
effective parent involvement.

Susan

Thank you for your kind words. I am so sorry to hear about your family’s negative experiences with outdated, ineffective treatment. I’m so glad to hear that your daughter is well now. Sadly, your daughter will never regain the months or years lost to this horrible illness, and your family has every right to be livid about that. And your family’s story of bad treatment is the rule, not the exception. I’m angry, too, and I do my best to channel that anger into providing patients and their families with treatment that is evidence-based and family-based, as well as writing about these important issues on the internet. I’m glad you found FEAST; it is a fantastic resource that I recommend to all my ED families.

Happy New Year to you and your family!

It’s perhaps strange form to thank somebody for information one already knew, but thank you from the very bottom (plus all the rest) of my heart!

My daughter is now well, but she was very ill several years back. We researched obsessively, looked up every single thing available to read on starvation effects, hunted down information on possible psychological effects of every nutritional deficiency we could think of, read up on brain development and function, and found the group that became F.E.A.S.T. We burned through a bunch of ED professionals trying to cobble together a team to help us while we restored her to mental and physical health.

Honestly, I’m still smarting years later at some of the smugly-delivered rote BS shovelled at us by some of those professionals. Obviously we managed, but it was in spite of the disease and most of the clinical advice we received. I still worry for others. Seven to eleven years of intense individual psychotherapy? She’ll never be well, but some anorexics are able go on to lead productive lives? Three and a half extended stays at treatment facilities is the norm for those who go on to live that productive life? At up to $100K a pop?

Enough about me, but all this brings me to my point. THANK YOU for the work you do. Thank you for being willing to speak up when current knowledge runs counter to currently established practice. Thank you for blogging so the message can reach others, not just your own very fortunate clients. Thank you for being smart plus energetic enough to take on ED clients period. Thank you for whatever you did to hone your deductive reasoning and extrapolation and writing skills. Thank you for everything else that brings you here today.

I hope your holidays have been joyous, as well as fun and nourishing for the body and soul.

M.

I do wonder whether prevention of EDs in childhood necessarily protects from EDs in adulthood. Let’s assume that a child who is predisposed to manifesting an ED has parents who do all of the above and keep the child well-nourished right up until the time the grown child goes out into the world on her own. What would happen to that person if she were to experience some malnutrition then, say from illness or dietary changes or increased exercise without increased nutrition? Would ED then strike this formerly healthy young adult? When we are young and having fun, those of us without EDs can indulge in all sorts of odd behaviors with eating and stay healthy, such as postponing or skipping meals and having just popcorn or ice cream for dinner, that people who are susceptible to EDs just can’t do. But you just don’t know whether you are that ED person until it happens to you.

I guess we can turn ourselves inside out contemplating the “what ifs”, and I know that if a loved-one has an ED we must just do everything possible to help them become healthy again. And I sincerely hope that prevention of EDs in childhood can protect from EDs in adults.