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Eating disorder adult child: How can I help her?
Mental Health | Last Active: Jan 6, 2022 | Replies (8)Comment receiving replies
Hello, I can certainly relate to what you are going through. Our son who is in his early 50s and lives with us was diagnosed with mental health condition in his pre-teen years and spent much of his teen years in and out of hospitals. An eating disorder was just a minor part of his problems but he still struggles off and on with it to this day. My wife and I found support through a local group sponsored by the National Alliance for Mental Illness (NAMI). The support group helped us through some rough patches mentally and physically. NAMI has a section on Eating Disorders that you might find helpful - https://www.nami.org/About-Mental-Illness/Mental-Health-Conditions/Eating-Disorders/Support. You may be able to call the NAMI support number or send them an email to find out if they have a support group close to you - the contact info is at the top of the Eating Disorders page above.
Even today it is difficult for me to talk to my son about his bulimia. He tells me he talks with his doctor about it and he is working on trying to control it so I just have to be thankful and accept that he is working on it. He will talk with his mother much more freely than with me which I think is because he thinks he has let me down which he really hasn't but nothing I can say will change it so I just accept and try to support his efforts.
I noticed that the site mentioned by @colleenyoung has search capability to find a local support group that you might find helpful also. I found it under the Free & Low Cost Support link above.
-- https://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/help-support/support-groups-research-studies
Replies to "Hello, I can certainly relate to what you are going through. Our son who is in..."
John Bishop,
I know you are a volunteer mentor, so I am asking you a question. Is it possible to remove my initial posting about eating disorder?
I am very worried the person may see it and it would be extremely upsetting. If you cannot do it, can you please
let me know who I should contact? I think the info is probably helpful, but I need to remove my posting.
Thank you.
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Oh, gosh, so sorry to hear about your son's challenges. It is difficult to
find out that there is little that can be done.
I may not be using the right terminology. We think something bothers her
mentally, but she seems like
basically a normal person (or almost anyway). I do not know if she has
bulimia - I just think she eats very tiny
meals. I do not know enough about it. She does take a lot of vitamins and
generic pills, etc. She is diligent about working on this problem and that
problem, but I just do not know what this is all about. She has never
required hospitalization but she has lost so much weight. She works on
trying to keep physically fit but she has several troublesome things. She
lives with husband and 2 children, and has worked full-time for 20 years,
but now is seeking P/T if she finds something she likes. I think that is
probably a very good decision. However, thank you,
I will check the link you gave me. She lives 600 miles away, but maybe
there is something in her area we will
check out. I do not know how serious this is, but it definitely should be
addressed. Best wishes to you and your
family for a nice Thanksgiving holiday.