Four friends with daughters hospitalised with anorexia. Is it becoming more common?

[ServantofthePeople]

A year ago I was horrified to to learn that a colleague’s daughter was in hospital with anorexia. I’ve tried to support him. Two local friends, whose daughters I’ve known since babyhood were then in-patients locally. Tonight we learnt that yet another friend’s daughter is in hospital. I’m not even shocked any more.

I had no idea the illness was so widespread. Has its prevalence increased? Or is in-patient care just more commonly offered now? I understand that rapid weight loss can make your heart beat strangely causing danger. Perhaps this was not understood in the past.

I just don’t remember anorexia being widespread when I was a teenager. Maybe we just didn’t talk about it?

@XenoBitch Are you thinking of Nikki Grahame?

@Crimeismymiddlename Sadly there are updated versions of nearly all of those things. I don't want to give examples because people with EDs are likely to click on this thread. But present day versions are still everyday occurrences among disordered people, both those who define that way and those who don't.

Yes Nikki @Innocenta

Crime yes - now you mention it - that was normalised wasn’t it?
I was naturally skinny and remember women asking me admiringly how I “did it”.

i had assumed that healthy eating was actually healthy but clearly sometimes it isn’t.

I watched a documentary on Nikki and had absolutely no idea how poorly she'd been prior to her big brother fame.

Very sadly its much, much more prevalent, especially during and since the lockdowns and pandemic as a whole. Covid-19 has caused catastrophic damage on people's mental health - young and old and everyone in between.

I know, personally, a child bereavement counsellor. He told us he visits children's wards and the majority of patients on the wards are there due to suffering from eating disorders. If that isn't concerning enough in itself, they have children with anorexia and young as FIVE years old. Utterly petrifying and heartbreaking in equal measure.

Eating disorder charities like B-eat have never been so busy. Inundated. Equally the crushing pressure on already-stretched mental health services within the NHS means it is virtually no longer fit for purpose. They are only admitting the very, very sickest patients and very sadly, some will not recover. Meanwhile others who are suffering and struggling are left with little-to-no support and in turn, they are becoming those very sick patients needing admission. If there are no beds though, there's nowhere left to turn. Early intervention is key in eating disorder treatment and recovery, but it just isn't happening.

It's should be yet another slap in the face and stab in the hearts of those in power, but then they have proven time after time that they just don't give a damn.

No idea what the solution is. I am just perpetually bereft and beyond words at how catastrophic this all is, and I fear that even if we could elect a new (competent, compassionate and fair) government tomorrow, it may be too late to salvage whatever is left.

I grew up in the 90s and didn’t know if anyone with anorexia at my school (northern comp); but lots of girls, including some who had inpatient stays, at university in the more middle class south east. Most (though not all), were middle class and had been at very pressured schools where eating disorders had been normalised amongst the girls as forms of coping and there was a fair amount of early “pro-Ana” stuff going around on webrings on the internet, too.

Given the kinds of social contagions and mental health issues around social media that are around today, it’s something I am not surprised to hear is on the increase again — so much social media seems to be based around looks and thinness and social pressures to look a certain way (and no accident that the 90s looks are back in fashion, either).

I think medics also take potential heart issues more seriously these days, too. Most of the girls I knew at university who were regularly in hospital were usually in and out of specialist ED mental health inpatient units when places came up — more than just being admitted for medical reasons. I remember visiting some of these girls in various units.

Does anyone know whether ED beds have decreased or increased during the last 20 years or so? It’s an incredibly nasty and intractable condition, and I suspect that funding to treat it has been going the same way as much other psychiatric support has. Mental illness is appallingly underfunded now in this country.

DD was hospitalised because her heart rate went down to 42 beats a minute. She was tested at the doctors that morning, then went to school. I got a panicked phone call at 10am and had to take her straight in. At her worst then, she had dropped to 39Kg, with a height of 167cm.

if she hadn’t been hospitalised, she wouldn’t have had any treatment. CAMHS in my area has a wait list of at least 8 months.

she is in recovery now, weighing 55 kg but her head is absolutely fucked, and she will be discharged soon. If anything I’d say she is worse now. She looks better, looks healthy but she is wracked with insecurities, anxious about everything, thinks she’s fat and ugly and everybody hates her.

Her friends meanwhile are all thinner than her, skipping breakfast and lunch but are still able to eat at Mac Donald’s, go out on the town, party and have the sort of fun that DD can’t bring herself to even attempt. Maybe it’s all lies, and in reality they are struggling as much as her, but I don’t think so.

It definitely has increased, due largely to the media influence, especially since social media has taken off the way it has. It’s made access to unhealthy images and role models even more widespread, to a younger and more vulnerable demographic. I believe there was also an increase along with internet usage as websites dedicated to eating disorders popped up, with girls talking about their ‘friends’ ‘ana’ and ‘Mia’

Thete was a study in the mid-90s in Fiji, TV was only recently introduced so prior to this there was no real access to western media. Eating disorders were unheard of. A few years after TVs were introduced there were reports of EDs and more than 10% of girls reported purging to lose weight. Also had a negative impact on mental health in general. There’s a summary of the research here.

news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2009/03/fijian-girls-succumb-to-western-dysmorphia/

Ideal body type has fluctuated throughout history. There was a point were being larger was fashionable as it signified you were wealthy as you could afford to eat. At the moment it seems to be a Kim kardashian type look of big bum, big boobs, tiny waist, which can only really be achieved with extreme eating and plastic surgery.

We had several girls from our class at school hospitalised in the early 90s, so don't think it's that new

Some of those I work with have done academic work on this. ED are a manifestation of psychological difficulties, and how psychological difficulties present is surprisingly culturally driven - I've been told that anorexia is pretty much unheard of in the developing world, but that doesn't mean that no-one there has mental health issues. Given the cultural element, it's not a surprise to see clusters of cases, and the last couple of years have, sadly, been very difficult psychologically for many, so a rise in cases could have been predicted.

@exLtEveDallas so sorry to hear your Dd is still in such a bad place - I can't remember if you and I share a birthday or our daughters do -but in any case - sending love and support to you both - please do message if I can be helpful listening ear x

There is also a strong link between anorexia and autism that I hadn't realised

I mean, "high functioning" autism / Aspergers

I work in child protection and I do not think child/teenage mental health issues are more common now, it just was not recognised in the same way in the past. When I work with parents it is very common to discover a background of abuse/poor mental health/ exploitation which was not recognised or was disregarded by professionals at the time. There is such a cycle of generational neglect, generational trauma and normalisation with practically no resources to unpick and address this.

This is not limited to families considered typical of social work involvement- there is a lot of emotional/physical and sometimes sexual abuse happening within middle class and upper middle class families. The expectations to achieve from some parents is sometimes incredibly abusive, absolutely no consideration of the individual child and what they want and the impact on their emotional health.

Whilst social media makes life harder in lots of ways, most families with a healthy relationship with their children manage and mentor this- it is not a cause in itself. The scandal is that whilst parents and professionals such as social workers, education and universal health services are now more able to recognise children in need of emotional/mental health support services and make a referral they just do not exist. Funding cuts since the this government has been in situ for these services have basically been wiped out so there is not any timely support. They were not particularly great historically but honestly for those who have never had a need to access these services- just pray that remains the case.

75 year old aunt has it, she told family years ago it was her choice of figure versus face. A horrible disease that is devastating for families. Hoping they all recover as best as possible.

I was at boarding school in the 90’s. Absolutely rife with anorexia and bulimia

I went to secondary school in London around late 90s early 00s. I went to a rough undesirable (at the time) school. I can say that I don't know and cannot think of any instances of eating disorders while I was there. Maybe there were some, but I can say that being slim wasn't something any of us particularly desired/paid much attention to (openly anyway).

It's what you have control over isn't it? I self harmed because I could deal with the physical pain more easily then emotional pain, and it was "fixed" by a bandage or stitches

I also have an (undiagnosed) ED which usually manifests if someone is shitty about my weight or I am berating myself for something else and I just stop eating. Any eating then I see as a failure and beat myself up more because I'm not disciplined enough and too fat and stupid to even stop myself eating

It's 95% under control now but I have to tune out a LOT of stuff (especially on here!) as I'm a 16/18, but I'm eating regularly and exercising daily so that's a good healthy goal for me

In most areas all early intervention support has been cut due to lack of money. Thresholds for any help have been raised. Support via CAMHS is hugely variable. As others have said, eating disorders have significantly increased as a result of the pandemic.

A close friend's daughter is sectioned with anorexia for the second time in four years. It's a horrific illness with one of the highest fatality rates of any mental illness.

Definitely seeing more admissions for refeeding/stabilisation since Covid.

Another of my crackpot theories is that once you've been sectioned once, the relevant professionals decide that your life and your permanent record have already been ruined and the threshold for further sections becomes lower and lower.

Yes to the link between autism and anorexia - anecdotally I would expect that about half of the ED inpatients I met were autistic, whether they were diagnosed or not. Most had AN as well but a minority seem to have more of a combination of autism-y food issues + the trauma caused by being in a fucked up environment like an ED unit.

I think once an admission has happened - even one in a supportive, non-abusive environment - it's easy to become institutionalised and lose all sense of purpose in life, which obviously exacerbates eating disorders and similar. When you've had your social life, your education etc taken from you it's very difficult to re-integrate, especially if you have been in a locked unit that only allows limited phone use etc. Even those without autism are at risk of losing social skills and confidence.

I think Tik Tok also has a lot go answer for.