I am writing this blog, Rally for Recovery: Maudsley Mom as a Mom supporting my daughter, Lauren, on her recovery journey. I hope that by sharing our experiences, other families will know they are not alone.
The call comes in: “Mom, I’m going on a diet to reach … lbs.” I immediately express my concern that she might not be able to stop at that. Classic symptoms of a developing ED followed – keeping a food journal, avoiding all meals, snacking in her dorm room, and keeping frantically busy by volunteering at a local school, working out, teaching Zumba, and participating in sorority activities. She told me she was restricting but how much? She was purging but how often?
Lauren was diagnosed with an ED and I jumped into action researching treatment options and asking around (discreetly) about therapists, nutritionists etc. I felt scared – overwhelmed by the gravity of her illness. How would we cope? How would we keep her alive? Should we send her away? Fortunately we stumbled on an article about Maudsley treatment. This would allow her to stay at home while we took control of her food. It resonated immediately. Could we really do this? How do you tell your almost 20-year old that she cannot make food choices anymore?
We wrote her a letter asking for her trust and included a quote: “An eating disorder is just a symptom that something is seriously wrong in our lives. In fact, it is an invitation to grow, emotionally and spiritually. Every crisis is an opportunity” (Hall and Cohn). Recovery is not easy but Maudsley provided us with the framework we needed to launch a counterattack against her ED.
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