ABSTRACT
We had a long prodrome up to the development of my daughter Maria's anorexia. She had a sad winter the year she turned 14 with difficulties at home and at school. She didn't tell anyone what was happening at school, but she suddenly began to behave in an unpredictable and angry way. I didn't understand why until I found evidence that she may be cutting herself. It was a scary time. I did not know but during this time she began to purge in an effort to lose weight. High school started and she joined the cross-country team. She started to be unnaturally terrified of getting fat and wouldn't eat favourite foods. The weight loss happened so fast I was stunned. I would ask Maria to eat more food and she would reluctantly take a few bites. An adolescent medicine specialist diagnosed anorexia and referred us to a therapist who said Maria needed to eat three meals and two snacks per day. Meals were very difficult as Maria often beat her head against the floor while eating, or tried to run from the house. She was irritable and emotionally labile. She started scratching herself. She became suicidal and was admitted to the hospital seven times, twice to gain weight and stop purging but mostly due to suicidal ideation around the time of her menses. Maria was getting distraught, her anger increased and she remained deeply depressed, sleeping much of the day and unable to concentrate on anything. Residential care was recommended but I felt the problem was the treatment approach, not our family. I wasn't encouraged to participate in her care – the team put her in charge. We began to seek other treatment options … we wanted to bring our family together to fight this illness.
