How Others Can Help
What you can do to help a family whose child has an eating disorder? When a child is sick, parents are expected to get them the treatment they need, and to take on the responsibility of caregiving until the patient is well. Unfortunately, when a child develops an eating disorder, parents are too often told WHAT […]
What F.E.A.S.T. Means to Me
By Katie Maki Our daughter was diagnosed with Anorexia Nervosa at the age of 10.5 in the fall of 2010. She was an incredibly sick little girl. She was having auditory and visual hallucinations of “a mean man’s voice” and would scream at me utterly terrified, “Can’t you see the blackness, Mommy? It’s right there […]
Taking Care of My Daughter by Taking Care of Me
By Dave Dunn, F.E.A.S.T. Board Member and Treasurer If my daughter is lying in her bed feeling terrible, and I walk in feeling sad, scared, confused, overwhelmed, and she can see that this is how I feel, then she’s just going to feel worse. On top of all the ways she was feeling bad before, […]
Dos and Don’ts of Supporting Caregivers
By Liza Cornwell As the mother of a 15-year-old with serious mental health struggles, I feel totally powerless most of the time. The last two years have demanded reserves of resilience I had no idea I possessed. There have been multiple hospital admissions – with severe anorexia and under section as a result of various […]
Twelve Unexpected Things That Can Happen When Your Child Has an Eating Disorder
By Oona Hanson Caring for a child with an eating disorder can be the most painful and challenging time in a parent’s life. Months if not years of emotional exhaustion–combined with the strain on finances, relationships, and even your own health–take a serious toll. In the throes of the illness, however, the magnitude of the […]
Handling This Well
By an anonymous mother “You look like you are handling this very well.” After months of turning down invitations to go out, I had decided to accept an invitation to connect with a friend I had not seen in a while. Going out with friends within my inner circle – a circle of moms with […]
It Can Get Bad, And That’s Good To Know
By an Anonymous Mother When my daughter was first diagnosed with anorexia, a good friend put me in touch with a friend of hers from college (someone I didn’t know) who had been navigating treatment for her daughter with anorexia. I knew it would be helpful to have someone who was living through the experience […]
Supporting Siblings: Insights and Strategies
By Judith Banker MA, LLP, FAED and Judy Krasna, F.E.A.S.T. Executive Director While there is a recent wave of research investigating the type and extent of impact on siblings of people with eating disorders (some of which are listed at the end of this post), there are few findings available that provide strategies and/or interventions […]
On Isolation
By Martina Candiago, Windsor, Ontario, Canada No education about eating disorders could have prepared me for the disconnect, loneliness and isolation this illness brings not only on me, but also within the entire family. Without minimizing the experience of those directly affected by any long term illness, I would like to share a caregiver’s perspective, […]
Lessons About Caring for the Caregiver
By Liz McLean, F.E.A.S.T. Volunteer “The friend who holds your hand and says the wrong thing is made of dearer stuff than the one who stays away.” -Barbara Kingsolver I’ve had a relatively easy life. There is someone who has always had it worse, right? But I have been hardship adjacent always. A neighbor gets […]
