Emily & Tiffany, identical twins
Emily, pre-anorexia
Emily now
Tiffany now
From the Intervention series on A&E is this story of Emily, who has been suffering from anorexia for 8 years, and the desperate attempts of her family and identical twin, Tiffany, to help her. At the time of filming, Emily, who is 5 feet 8 inches tall, weighed only 94 pounds, 56 pounds less than her twin, Tiffany.
Emily
Emily & Tiffany, identical twins...
PART 1:
Emily exercising in the shower
Tension and frustration...
PART 2:
Food counting: "A plate of ritual"...
PART 3:
The intervention: "You're not going to love her to death"...
PART 4:
"The way we started life is the way I want it ended -- with you at my side" (Tiffany to Emily)
PART 5:
Posts
7 comments:
I find it terribly sad that it's the emaciated anorexics who get all the attention and interest. For every emaciated anorexic there are approximately 7-9 other eating disorder sufferers - stable higher-weight anorexics (who appear quite normal), bulimics, EDNOS sufferers, binge-eaters and compulsive overeaters. They all suffer as much (if not more) than anorexics do.
It's almost like a freak-show - oggling the emaciated bodies, the bizarre food rituals, etc. It makes many people with other EDs wish they were the emaciated anorexic, because their hurt and suffering has the attention, the spotlight, and even the treatment. Anorexics are further encouraged to not recover because they've got the 'glamorous' interesting illness, and unlike the other EDs which people scorn, they get a feeling of achievement as they lose weight and overcome hunger. It's terribly unfair.
Josie, I completely agree with you-even medical professionals, for the most part treat eating disorder patients at normal or near normal weights much more casually. When I was emaciated, I was hospitalized again and again, I had endless therapy and EKGs and every type of blood test imaginable. They pulled out all the stops. Once I recovered weight, it seemed that no one cares very much about my continuing problems. I feel terribly guilty even going to my outpatient eating disorder groups--although people say I'm skinny, I'm not emaciated. I'm just 10-15 pounds underweight, one of those "normal-looking" anorexics. I'm careful to hide the parts of my body that look too bony. I am definitely slipping, mentally. But I find it so easy to hide. And easy to lie to myself--if no one says anything, it is because I'm not sick.
I've been struggling for 20 years and I've been a scary-emaciated anorexic as well as normal weight bulimic. I've been able to get help only when very ill, so ill it took months to get my cognition normalized. When I spoke about my problems to doctors and mental health professionals when my weight was fairly normal, my concerns were shrugged off (even though I was purging, taking laxatives, fasting, taking diuretics and exercising four-five hours a day, and even thought I was, for the most part honest about these things). I was okay because my weight was okay, which I knew was a lie--people die from doing what I did, no matter what their weight. I think it is appalling that out of all the professionals I've seen, only a handful seem to grasp that higher-weight anorexics, bulimics and EDNOS sufferers need and deserve the same level of treatment that emaciated anorexics do. I realize that extreme anorexics are more visually dramatic when it comes to media coverage of eating disorders, but at some point people need to realize that most people with EDs can and do hide their condition. The hiding is actually part of the pathology, I think.
calliope - you're completely right. Many of your experiences mirror my own and the experiences of my friends.
I was diagnosed anorexic yesterday, though my BMI is 19 - my doctor overruled the weight criteria because she's concerned about its impact on my health. However if i tell anyone the reaction would be complete disbelief, because i look and appear so normal. It's not there for all to see like in the case of Emily in this post - she has her whole family fussing around her, it's all drama and attention and love - many of the things people with EDs have missing in their lives, and which Emily may lose over the years if she recovers fully.
When I attempted to discuss issues with my therapist, she told me that I was too big to be anorexic and was eating more than two carrot sticks a day, so I couldn't possibly have an ED. I never bothered trying again and am now leaving therapy because it's proven itself completely useless.
Julia - that's one terrible therapist right there!!!
I'd suggest not giving up on therapy just because one therapist is sh*t - i'm sure there are good ones out there!
EDs are so glamorised and only the most extreme cases are shown. It's not like this with other mental illnesses. You don't get told you haven't got depression on the basis that you haven't attempted suicide more than 5 times (which is the equivalent of what your therapist said i think!)!!!
Josie, thank you for putting it so eloquently. When I was anorexic and bulimic, my weight varied wildly (over a range of 100 lbs.) Sometimes I "looked" anorexic and sometimes I didn't -- bulimics can often be overweight and still just as sick as their anorexic counterparts. Thank you for pointing that out.
I think you guys are pointing out some very important issues here. I thought I was the only one going through this but it seems like it happens elsewhere too!! and boy it is infurriating me! Why are we treated that way?? Unless you're at death's door, there's not much attention given to the real stuff and the underlying issues.
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