My hope for the Terri Schiavo situation

[Modem Butterfly]

I wish that the fact that it was Terri's bulimia that brought about this sad situation got more airplay. In high school, my best friend was a girl with very severe eating disorders (she practiced both anorexia and bulimia, which I understand is not at all unusual). She died of a heart attack at the age of 21, only a few years after Terri had her heart attack.

I am especially disheartened to learn that there is now a rather sizeable community of people with eating disorders on the web who embrace having an eating disorder and even trade tips and tricks on weight loss. Google the term "ana +mia" for a sad shock.

We've concentrated on obesity as a problem in this country, which it is, but eating disorders can and do kill. I hope that the Terri Schiavo situation can not only be used to educate people about the need for living wills but to educate people about the effects of eating disorders on the body.

[sniffa]

1. that's not true

her husband beat her into that condition... or so some peopLe are saying.

[Dookus]

2. I agree

there are SO many important things NOT being discussed about this case. Eating disorders is one of them, and for the life of me, I can't figure out why nobody is discussing euthanasia. If ever a case called out for a quick, painless cessation of life, this is one.

[Modem Butterfly]

4. Thank the anti-choice contingency for that one

They've created a situation where withdrawing life support is the only way to allow someone a death with dignity in Florida, then they complain about how barbaric it is. That's some nerve.

[mopinko]

3. they were talking about it on franken

and emphasizing that the separation between mental health and physical health is completely arbitrary and ridiculous.
at the very least i wish it would get out more, so people will stop filling in the blanks with, 'maybe michael did something to her.'

[CountAllVotes]

5. thanks for telling me about "ana+mia"

Yikes is all I can say.

I have a niece that is 20 years old almost now and she (last I heard) weighs 90 lbs. and is 5'8" tall.

I just found her as a marathon runner (came in 198 out of 247 people) in a race!

I fear she is an anorexic!

Thanks again for this info. I had no idea!

:kick:

[Lindacooks]

6. Whoa, that's about 50 pounds underweight.

Any way you can discuss this with her parents? That is dangerously thin.

[CountAllVotes]

9. nope I cannot!

It is totally frustrating. They have never allowed me to see this young woman. I've seen her once in person at about age 6. That was it. I found out about the weight thing accidentally. I found a picture of her and OMG! I couldn't believe it.

I blame this on her mother! She passed out at the wedding after purging herself for days to fit into that nice very little wedding dress. She taught my niece the same tricks apparently. Her mother boasts about the fact that she is a size 1 and DO YOU KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS? she says. Yeah I know what that means MOMMIE DEAREST! :(

Very sad and I am powerless.

Now she is in college. As far as the marathon racing goes now, I had no clue about the reality of it until I found her on google.com. :(

When I was her age I weighed about 150 lbs. which is the standard woman weight in my family.

You are right, it is dangerously thin. I was told not to mention her weight and to shut-up about it. :grr:

:kick:

[Modem Butterfly]

11. My friend was 5'4" with a goal weight of 67 pounds at one point

Her parents hospitalized her on a number of occasions, especially after a fainting episode at school. She would kind of get her act together, then her weight would take a nose-dive. She was in and out of the hospital so much she ended up getting her GED instead of graduating. We both went to school together, but the stress really sent her into a tail-spin and mid-way through winter term, her parents came and got her. We stayed in contact off and on over the next couple of years. The last time I saw her, she looked pretty good, at about 120 pounds, which was about the most she'd ever weighed. She had her heart attack six months later. I'll never forget how haunted her mother and father looked at the funeral.

I think your neice is courting disaster.

[CountAllVotes]

13. well I am prepared for the worst

I was told she "picks at food" (you never see her ever really eat) and that this marathon racing was a new "skill" that had emerged. If she was a great marathon runner she'd have come in alot better than the end of the pack I'd say.

While she courts disaster, the family acts like everything is just perfect. Needless to say they are a batch of mindless pukes.

:kick:

[Modem Butterfly]

14. How sad

She may have come in so far back out of sheer weakness. Your body must have energy to create muscles, after all.

[CountAllVotes]

16. I do know she was "excused" from phys. ed. for awhile

Why I don't know. However at the age of 12 she still had to ride in a car seat because she weighed less than 50 lbs. I was told.

Oh God, I feel so sick about this! I wouldn't recognize my niece if she came to the door being I've been kept away from her my entire life. I have a strong feeling you are right! :(

Thanks for the input.

:kick:

[ulysses]

7. an excellent point.

Would that it had been talked about more.

[salin]

8. Wasn't the death of Karen Carpentar (sp?)

hastened by a long bout of eating disorders which greatly weakened her body? Yes, this is a conversation that is greatly needed.

[CountAllVotes]

10. yes that is what killed Karen Carpenter

Very sad - severe eating disorder. I cannot remember the details exactly, either anorexic or bulimic or both - ?

:kick:

[Modem Butterfly]

12. Alot of people use both

They'll deny themselves food for long periods, then engage in binging and purging for a few weeks, then go back into drastic dieting. In my friend's case, she got the idea of binging and purging while in treatment for anorexia- one of the other girls told her it was a good way to get her family and friends off her back for how little she was eating.

[CountAllVotes]

15. well in the case I've mentioned

The mother is to blame for she practices the same "techiniques". Btw ... she looks like shit warmed over after doing this on and off for probably most of her wretched life. Frankly, I hate the bitch (wouldn't you?)!

:kick:

[Danmel]

19. Karen Carpenter was Anorexic

She was skeletal just before she died. Many bulimics are of normal body weight which is one of the reasons they are able to keep their conditions hidden with greater frequesncy than anorexics. The signs are more subtle.

Eating disorders have the highest fatality rates of all mental illnesses. It is very sad that the opportunity to educate people about these dangers is subsumed by the right wing frenzy and the hatred the family members have toward each other.

[LynneSin]

17. That group of girls are sick

I've read up a little on them - they actually were pissed that Mary-Kate Olsen actually got help for her eating disorder. They thought she was a role model

:eyes:

It's important that the dangers of eating disorders (all of them including overeating & obsesity) are kept in the public limelight!!

[tammywammy]

18. Yes, this is what we should be talking about

Anorexia and Bulimia are both horrible diseases that women and men suffer from.

Terri should be a sign to what can happen if you continue to live this type of life.

My good friend when I was growing up suffered from anorexia. It started when she was about 13. I knew about it, but being so young, I couldn't handle it. I'd tell her she should eat, but that's all I could do. Her problems stemmed from a molestation at a young age. Her parents finally intervened when we were in high school. Alison had intensive therapy for years, and when we were seniors, her goal was to eventually start a camp to help other girls.

And another girl that was in orchestra with me, also suffered from anorexia. She was skin and bones, and did look like a concentration camp victim. Her parents had intervened when she was 15, I think, and she was a sign to what not to do with your body. And she spoke about it to others.

These are secret disease. It's understandable that family members don't know, because they're so good at hiding it.

[skygazer]

20. That is an excellent point

I have educated more than one person about the underlying reason for Terri Schiavo's condition - not one single person I've talked to about it has known. Most assume car accident or something similar.

It is definitely something people need to be educated about. Most people seem to think it's just a matter of counseling and eating more - they don't realize the damage it does to the body and organs and the dangers that poses.