Q&A-MY BROTHER HAS AN EATING DISORDER?
12:20 AM Posted by MS.NOVA
*via twitter*
I hadn't been home in a over a year. I come home at Christmas, see my brother and gasp (to myself of course) at the amount of weigh he had lost. His tall, athletic build now resembles that of a swimmer or ballet dancer. I mean really lanky, no meat on him at all, and I could really see the weight loss in his face.
Initially I assumed he was struggling with drugs and planned on speaking to him the minute we could be alone. In watching him interact with the family, he did seem totally normal, nothing sketchy at all. When I watched him at dinner, I picked up on him tasting, but not eating all of Christmas dinner. He'd move it around the plate and hardly took any food in the first place. I also think he was purging over the week we were together.
How do I talk to him? Should someone come with me? How do you recover from this?
Have a similar experience? Comments? Let us know below!
January 20, 2011 at 3:32 PM
Just as you would not sit back idly if you saw a perfect stranger tie a noose around their neck, you should not hesitate to help your brother with his self-destructive behaviour.
Males suffer from body image issues as girls do, but there is less support geared to male anorexia/bulimia. It is unlikely that he will reach out to anyone for help, and even more conceivable that he doesn't recognize that there is even a problem.
People with physiological disorders that are stemming from psychological traumas (and I say this from personal experience with these types of situations) don't react well to being judged. It is usually judgment that triggered the trauma in the first place. As his sister, you should be able to find a common ground in your relationship to open up some dialogue, and get to the bottom of what's really happening here.
Here's a link to a site that may help you and your brother: http://www.anorexiasurvivalguide.com/anorexia_familysupport.htm