For Sarah: Unless treatment stops promoting restriction, people will continue to die from eating disorders

Warning: This episode may be difficult or triggering for some listeners. It involves talking about a person who recently died of anorexia.

 

In this podcast, Tabitha talks about a person who recently died as a result of the malnutrition associated with anorexia. 

Sarah was a joyful, incredibly like-able, intelligent woman with a good sense of humour. She came to me as a client, and someone determined to recover. She was also a person who had been through 30 years of traditional treatment, but never lost hope in her ability to get well. Sarah wasn't non- compliant, she was the opposite of difficult, and she was on her way and actively in recovery when she died. Apparently, a lifetime of malnutrition had resulted in a weak heart, and it was too little too late. Sarah was truly let down by the traditional treatment model. The tragedy is that at the time of her death, she was at the best place she had been for years. Sarah didn't die in the way we stereotypically expect people with anorexia die in a IP bed rejecting food. Sarah was eating better, feeling better, and actively living her recovery when she died. 

The effects of malnutrition are serious and can be long-lasting. Treatment has to prioritise unrestricted eating, and spreading the message that hunger and desire to eat can be trusted.