Advice about a sibling

[feemcgee]

My DN was hospitalised with anorexia five years ago. She was recently back after attempting to take her own life. Her DS is 14 and has put on a lot of weight - she was already overweight.
How do we help her? My sister, understandably, doesn’t want to mention weight to her daughter. But it’s a problem. Any advice would be appreciated xx

Don’t mention it.

Anorexia is genetic and no good will come of mentioning it to her dd.

Have I got this right, your dsis has an anorexic dd and an overweight ds?

I get your dsis wants to tackle her ds’s weight. But anorexia is the deadliest of all mental illnesses. Is your DN being followed by CAMHS ED services? If she is, I would suggest your dsis calls and speaks to a nurse, hopefully one, who is dealing on the coal face. They will hopefully give your dsis some advice on how to deal with things to minimise issues for your DN.

I agree with the previous posters. And just to offer the perspective of someone who's sister was anorexic, it absolutely set me up for a lifetime of over eating. Eating became a way of gaining my parents approval and of making them happy. I think rather than talk to the sibling about their weight, the family could think about how they talk about food and what messages they're inadvertently sending the sibling.