Hello everyone. I am a Mum of a 22 year old daughter, who in her teens suffered with anorexia - well, we all suffered with her really. We moved house, and relocated about 2 years ago, and our then 20 yr old daughter bravely moved with us. The move has proved good for her in so many ways, not least of all in that she has found her husband to be, and chosen to begin at uni training as a primary school teacher and life has definitely been on the up for her. We had hoped she had recovered from anorexia, that maybe it had all been just a rather long 'blip' in her life that we could all put behind us now - although when we did first move she also became bulimic which we hadn't seen before, and I think that came really from a desire to once again be relaxed around food, and the bingeing began, but that did stop and things really seemed to settle down ... except for the binge drinking too :/. Anyway, all that said, she was so happy when she met this great lad, locally, and of course they fell in love - life seemed to really open up for her. The binge drinking gradually stopped, oh and she gave up smoking; her dad and I really celebrated getting our daughter back from the grip of anorexia/bullimia, and dared to begin to hope that maybe it was all over. Unfortunately, the strain of being at uni (although she really enjoys it, and I know will stick it out), the social pressure, the meeting of deadlines etc has taken its toll and we are seeing old, familiar thinking patterns re-emerging and it is putting a strain on all of us, including her poor fiance who has never seen anything like this before. Her eating isn't really the main symptom, it's more the negative self-image, the withdrawing from a world where everyone hates her, no one really understands her or cares even, and throwing hurtful comments at her fiance, like 'you don't love me' and 'we can't get married'. It hurts. The irrational thoughts and perception of things that are said or left unsaid. Anorexia seems to be about so much more than just problems with food, there is a whole way of thinking that comes with it that makes it so impossible for those that love the sufferer to reach them - I think that is one of the things I have always found so disturbing and so distressing. After a huge melt-down last night, she is happy to go for counselling sessions again, and we really hope it will help - she is so much better than she was a few years ago, but clearly she is not coping as well as we thought right now. I hate anorexia/bullimia with a passion, but I love my daughter. Really feeling for all of you here who are either sufferers or parents/partners of sufferers. xxx
