ABSTRACT
Ophelia is a 27-year-old woman who has struggled with anorexia nervosa since she was 11 years old. She is extremely intelligent, and having gained a first class degree in history at Oxford University, she is now halfway through her PhD. It is at times when her life is most stressful that she struggles with her anorexia. The first time she was admitted to hospital was when she was 13. She was being badly bullied at school and had stopped eating in order to become thin to prevent being teased about being overweight. Being able to lose so much weight gave her the sense that she had some control over at least one aspect of her life.
