A paper in this week's BMJ reports on the results of using a screening tool for anorexia and bulimia nervosa in primary care (p 755).
There are many sites about the facts and figures and “medicalisation” of eating disorders. A few give a disturbing insight into the perplexing private hell of the person with the eating disorder.
“Her body, aching with pain, drowned out by the constant chatter of her thoughts. Food is her love, and her enemy. No one is there, only Anorexia to hold her hand and comfort her. Alone. Screaming. Crushed.” (www.edauk.com/poetry.htm#poem_3_050902). Crushed is from a series of poems on the Eating Disorders Association site, www.edauk.com.
As expected, the American sites have more opportunity for self expression. At www.eating.ucdavis.edu/speaking/told/told.html you can choose which category of eating disorder you want to read about. Be prepared to be shocked: “I am dying slowly and all I want is to be normal. I thought anorexia was something I could stop myself from being—I thought it was physical, but now it has a death-hold on me,” states Katie (www.eating.ucdavis.edu/speaking/told/anorexbulim/ab38katie.html).
If you are looking for happy endings, go to person success stories (www.eatingdisorderinfo.org/personal_story.htm). For example, Elisa admits: “I'm not saying that recovery is a fabulous experience; it is a lot of work. As I continue my journey through life, I no longer see a dark hole; there is a light of unknown.” (www.eatingdisorderinfo.org/elisa.htm).
To come back down to earth with a bump go to the memorial wall on the bizarrely named “something fishy about eating disorders” site (www.something-fishy.org/memorial/memorial.php). Last updated in February 2002, it claims that it is “dedicated to all the men and women who have died at the hands of an eating disorder.” It is tragic to read the epitaphs of these young people, for example, “Nikole, died on her way to treatment in 1994 at age 16 from bulimia.” There are 17 pages of them.