friends who are anorexic

[quixoticmix]

Hello! I'm new to this forum. I was wondering if anyone out there have friends who are anorexic. Is there a possibility to change their eating habits over time? I've this friend who has been anorexic for 2 years, but there seemed to be nothing i can do to help her except provide her with support. Her weight has been dipping and i'm really worried. Any recommendations for supplements or weight gainers to make up the loss for her poor food intake?

[bellezza]

Hi. I'm sad to hear about your friend... I did learn about this eating disorder during F&N in sec sch days. I suggest your friend to seek professional help such as meeting a nutritionist or even a counsellor. There's no way to help her cause it's a type of psychological illness that stops her from eating food as she keep thinking that she is fat. As her friend, do encourage her and give her more assurance so that she is willing to eat more...

[craziefunky]

i think you should arrange your friend to meet a psychologist, allow her to change her thinking that being too skinny isn't healthy and that she is not fat at all. meanwhile, encourage her to eat more, or if can, try to change her mindset. just to ask, is ur friend being influenced by media such as internet or television? if yes, try to get her attention away from those media.
anyway, hope your friend will recover =D

[bao]

personally, i would not recommend consuming supplements such as weight gainers..this would in fact result in your fellow friend over-dependent on it and thus develop to another serious problem..so i suggest that you and your group of friends would change on her perspective towards HOW wonderful food are..lol..rather than working on solutions physically, you could work on solutions mentally..so..wish u all the best..=)

[duste]

oh dear..i'm also getting worried for yr fren..****..there is chance that she can change their eating habits..maybe they become anorexia due to the surroundings she is facing..why not bring her out to somewhere there is no stress, relaxing and they feel pleasure to eat? like having a friends gathering in a chalet? or maybe u can take her out for outdoor activity so that she feel hungry and ready to eat? meanwhile, bring her to see a consultant to see what the problem really lies that make her anorexia

[vivadiva]

I feel very much for your friend. Personally, i have seen a close friend walk down this path too. Anorexia is the crust of much serious underlying issues. Its the work of low self-esteem, and/or overly harsh self-criticisms. Body image distortion may be one factor. But usually its not triggered by purely aesthetic reasons. I dont think anyone wakes up one day and decides to be anorexic there and then after seeing some flab on the tums.

A counsellor would be great for recovery. But is she open to the idea of a counsellor? If not it may not work.

[duste]

Sigh. I think the visits to the counsellor would have become a routine to her.

[quixoticmix]

yeap. totally agree with duste. i think peeps who are suffering from anorexic would rather keep problems to themselves.

[paddle_pop]

i had two friends who were aneorexics so i can understand ur dilemma. The worse thing to do now would be to abandon them, best is to guide them through and very importantly, get them to seek professional help, especially see a psychiatrist. Actually, my aneorexic friends were forcibly pulled to seek medical attention and psychological help, if not they would never have recovered. They may be having problems with their self-esteem or other areas of their life that they cannot control. Try to convivnce them that their family anf friends mean more than their figures.

Being there for them and encouraging them to get well is the best, hope that you and your friend can pull throuugh this situation Ganbatte!

[dreamygal]

hey..i gt an idea..why dont u let yr friend see all the side effects and the consequences of her being anorexia? somehow like u print the disgusting lung cancer pictures on the cigar packets to alert the smokers? that may let her now that starving herself in wateva reasons would do her no good. hmm..maybe u let her have a good start by giving her all the bland food..so that u make her think that what she eat does not make any effect in weight gain..

hope she recover from anorexia..

[pinkedgloss]

dreamygal, i would actually not recommend that. those pictures would actually serve as thinspiration to anorexics... it will only worsen the problem. sure you might tell them "oh you might get heart failure etc." but most anorexics will only be more concerned with losing weight than anything else

[soliloquy3]

i agree too.

their way of thinking is different from ours. its skewed.

does her mom or family know about her problem?

my friend who had anorexia for about 5 or more years of her life took about 3 years to recover, and she still suffers from lapses- ie, she never eats for a few days. her mum had to accompany her to school everyday and visit every recess to make sure she eats.

[paddle_pop]

yes, showing them pictures of really thin people will only spurr them on to lose more weight because they may feel envious of the people in the photos

[xiaoqiiiii]

perhaps you could tell her that even fashion capitals are now barring models who are too thin and underweight from doing shows.. let her know that being too thin is now unacceptable in the world of fashion, since girls usually look to models for the perfect figure/weight..

some people will call me anorexic because i eat very little, or sometimes go without lunch when i'm out shopping. i might be, but i have the mindset that i AM NOT (i've my own reasons for thinking so, for eg i tend to binge on food sometimes too). your friend might perhaps think that she ISN'T anorexic, even though to everyone else she obviously is. i guess you have to get her to change her mindset. for instance, ask her if she is so thin she can see the bones on her ribcage or back if she bends slightly forward or backward when her clothes are off. or perhaps whether she can already see the bones on her ribcage even if she stands straight. if she can, she is obviously too thin and you can then encourage her to eat more by letting her know that it is unattractive to be able to see one's bones etc.. and being able to see one's ribcage is a sign of insufficient food intake.

maybe you could also try bringing her around to places with delicious yummy food.. introduce them to her gradually.. your friend isn't likely to eat a lot the first time but it's all in tempting her to start eating and putting on weight again. i hope your friend isn't one who will resist good food all the time!

[quixoticmix]

Thanks for ur concern peeps!

soliloquy3: yeap, her mum's like monitoring her every move. and she get really mad with her mum for that. do u think that those suffering from anorexia have mood swings?

xiaoqiiiii: i've been trying to get her to eat. but i think it takes small steps yeah. haha. some people who looks anorexic arent even anorexic. they just happen to have good genes.