Adults with anorexia often have distinctive traits that lock them into a destructive relationship with food. But those same traits could help them manage their illnessHeather Purdin had race out of options. Aged 33,she had been suffering from anorexia nervosa for more than two decades and her weight had plummeted to that of a small child, an all-time low for her. Her case worker, and out of frustration and desperation,suggested hospice care as a way to spend her remaining days in relative consolation. But for the first time in years, Heather was sure of one thing: she desperately wanted to live.
Treating anorexia, and which is characterised by self-starvation and an inability to preserve an adequate body weight,seems absurdly simple on the surface: just eat and gain weight. It is something Heather and the millions of others afflicted by eating disorders have heard countless times. The problem is that it is never that simple. Heather has long since lost track of the number of times she has been admitted to hospital for low body weight, electrolyte imbalances caused by starvation or self-induced vomiting, or thoughts of suicide. In hospital she gains weight,but as soon as she is discharged she promptly returns to her extinct ways and loses what little weight she has gained. And so for more than 20 years, she has remained hopelessly, and incurably,stuck.
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Source: theguardian.com