"With Anorexia, Total Recovery Can Be Elusive" - NYTimes

[01010011]

[We've previously discussed in this community the issue of defining "recovery." I dislike that the article only really mentions recovery and EDs in context of AN, but it's interesting to see the topic addressed in a major news publication. Thoughts? What do you guys think of the viewpoints expressed by the individuals in the article? How's the

Comments

[_stormthesea]

I consider myself "in recovery," but the thing is that I've been in recovery for a full year now- this time last year was when I started going to IOP (and then partial, and then residential, and then I went through the system the right way, ha) and then in February, two months after I finished with IOP for the second time, I was in IOP at a different program for depression and because my ED was becoming more unmanageable.

BUT I am at least 800x better than I was this time last year. I haven't binged or purged for three weeks now, which is the longest I've gone on my own (i.e. not in residential) in years. And I don't know if I'm finally on the right meds, or if I just learned enough skills, or if something changed mentally. Even if I'm still struggling with eating disordered thoughts and urges I have gotten to a place that I never thought I would reach.

[king_josie]

I like the comparison with recovery from an ED being like an addiction - something you have to watch because relapse is possible under stress.

And what Aimee Liu said about saying "recovering" as opposed to "recovered".... that's what i say. I don't want to say "recovered" because of the expectation that i'm all okay now - at times i do need extra support to keep myself on track. I've been "in recovery" for 2 years now.

[formyed]

Where did they get their stats?? I've never heard that stat that ONE THIRD will die of the illness. I've always heard 10-20%. This article seems especially grim, and possibly a bit sensationalist.

That said, I think more in the remission model than the the recovery model. I've had times where I thought I was really RECOVERED. Like, in the happy-go-lucky/irritating Jenni Schaeffer kind of way. And then I relapsed. Multiple times. I DO think that I'm now getting treatment that is filling in the gaps that were missing before, and I think I have the tools now to stay in recovery. I think that I can get to a point where I won't be fighting the e.d. on daily basis. And, I know that I will always be predisposed to having an e.d. It can - and will - go into remission. I think I'm developing the tools that I need to keep it in remission. And, I will always need to watch for the warning signs of relapse.

[01010011]

I found this article via a former dietitian of mine from IP, and she noted that they misreported the mortality rate. Asked her what she knows to be the rate.
(Although for the reasons you state, that's exactly why I think we see cited mortality rates for EDs varying wildly...I know of several people who have gone on to recover, but a decade or two later their body starts falling apart due to irreversible damage from the ED exacerbating other conditions.)

[lilacpetals]

That was my grandmother's situation. She had anorexia from when she was 18 until when she died at age 78. There were a few periods, according to my mom, when my grandma was healthy, but she was rather ill for most of her life. She battled cancer a few times, and the last time she was determined to be too thin to undergo chemo. The doctors put her in palliative care, and she died 6 months later - she starved to death, essentially, because the cancer made it impossible for her to swallow and she was taken off her tube. The cancer she had kills 99% of people with it within a year. So it wasn't necessarily the anorexia that killed her, but not entirely her cancer either. But statistically, she wouldn't be considered one of the people who died from their eating disorders.

[healthyfigure]

I agree the most with Harriet Brown; I don't overanalyse food to the point where it takes over my life. I don't overeat or undereat OFTEN, weight is in healthy range and i'm able to live life in a way that's not completely organised around food and eating. I will say im recovered to most people for simplicity sake, in that the majority of the population will not understand the complexity of a disorder that is not black (ill) and white (recovered).

I believe i am as recovered as i can be at this point in time. I believe i will always have little blips, but i am a lot more eqipped to deal with them. I do not rule out relapse, but i hope it doesn't happen and do all i can to steer away. I believe everyone is on a continuum between all the eating disorders in this age, with those who have the most balance and apathy towards their weight, food intake and ED behaviours being the most healthy.

[roadtophd]

I just read this article and I agree with most of it. I especially agree with the doctor who mentions that functionality isn't a good measure of recovery-- I've published in academic journals while ill.

I think that for me, recovery is the times I've been able to eat for nourishment and pleasure. My best period was 2009-10 when I was doing a great deal of competitive running. That may not sound like recovery but I maintained a healthy weight and ate well for my activity level. I knew I didn't look like many of the female pro marathoners but I was pretty okay with that because I was setting personal records in nearly every race I ran, which made me feel amazing. Being able to get back to that mindset of exercise (at a reasonable level)=taking care of my body rather than exercise=calorie burning would be a big marker of recovery for me.

[01010011]

I would love to achieve that state. Running is something I truly, truly love for the pleasure of it, not for any ED reasons but my ED definitely "uses" it and makes it more compulsive than fun (and I'm sure my body doesn't enjoy being made to run on subpar nourishment and frequent purging...no PRs happening, that's for damn sure.) It's good to hear that it's possible.