recovery= more than just gaining weight

After writing two posts yesterday which were both to do with the weight related aspects of recovery, I wanted to write a post highlighting the fact that recovery is about more than just gaining weight. Since anorexia is a mental illness with physical side effects, whether a person is recovered should  be determined by what is happening in a persons mind, rather than just how they appear on the outside.


Considering Anorexia is a mental illness, I think that there has been far too much focus on weight when determining whether a person is suffering/recovered from anorexia in the past. One of the diagnostic criteria for anorexia was once that the patient needed to have a bmi under a certain range- I think it was 17.5. Now however this is not considered as an important diagnistic criteria as a patient could be having anorexic thoughts and behaviours while at a slightly higher bmi than 17.5.

If you think about it, it is ridiculous to say that out of two girls with the exact same mindset, the girl with a bmi of 17.6 is not anorexic while the girl with a bmi of 17.4 is anorexic. For example  I was struggling with anorexic thoughts for the 6 months leading up to becoming underweight. While I was initially unable to lose the weight, my mind and behaviors were still really unhealthy.

An anorexic patient should never be declared recovered until a full psychological examination is performed on the patient as well as a physical exam.

When I left hospital I was weight restored and no one would have ever guessed I had anorexia but my mind was still as anorexic as ever. I was not recovered, in fact my anorexia was every bit as bad the day I left hospital as it was the day I went to hospital. It is completely normal for people to experience weight restoration and physical recovery before they recover mentally. The reasons why this is the case are explained in the following information, sourced from here.

There is one finding about anorexia which seems to me more crucial to treating it successfully than anything else.  It is a counterintuitive insight, but one that seems – like all the best facts – completely obvious when once one knows it.  It is this: that for the anorexic, gaining weight is the prerequisite for mental recovery, rather than vice versa.  Put another way: you can’t make an anorexic want to put on weight until he or she has begun to do so.  Put yet another way: the mind may make the body sick, but only the body can help the mind be well again.

It is essential that you firstly gain weight in order to fully recover as your mind will no be able to repair otherwise. So while weight restoration is an important factor in anorexia recovery, alone it does not constitute full recovery. You are not fully recovered from anorexia until you no longer have any of the following physical or emotional/behavioural symptoms. 

Symptoms 

By Mayo Clinic Staff

The physical signs and symptoms of anorexia nervosa are related to starvation, but the disorder also includes emotional and behavior issues related to an unrealistic perception of body weight and an extremely strong fear of gaining weight or becoming fat.

The Minnesota Starvation Experiment, also known as the Minnesota Semi-Starvation Experiment, the Minnesota Starvation-Recovery Experiment and the Starvation Study, was a clinical study performed at the University of Minnesota between November 19, 1944 and December 20, 1945. The investigation was designed to determine the physiological and psychological effects of severe and prolonged dietary restriction and the effectiveness of dietary rehabilitation strategies.

Physical symptoms

Physical signs and symptoms of anorexia may include:

• Extreme weight loss
• Thin appearance
• Abnormal blood counts
• Fatigue
• Insomnia
• Dizziness or fainting
• Bluish discoloration of the fingers
• Hair that thins, breaks or falls out
• Soft, downy hair covering the body
• Absence of menstruation
• Constipation
• Dry or yellowish skin
• Intolerance of cold
• Irregular heart rhythms
• Low blood pressure
• Dehydration
• Osteoporosis
• Swelling of arms or legs

Emotional and behavioral symptoms

Behavioral symptoms of anorexia may include attempts to lose weight by either:

• Severely restricting food intake through dieting or fasting and may include excessive exercise
• Bingeing and self-induced vomiting to get rid of the food and may include use of laxatives, enemas, diet aids or herbal products

Other emotional and behavioral signs and symptoms related to anorexia may include:

• Preoccupation with food
• Refusal to eat
• Denial of hunger
• Fear of gaining weight
• Lying about how much food has been eaten
• Flat mood (lack of emotion)
• Social withdrawal
• Irritability
• Reduced interest in sex
• Depressed mood
• Thoughts of suicide

Keep fighting everyone, and one day you will be free of all of these symptoms. Full recovery is possible as long as you believe that it is. Xx