"Celebrity Rehab"

Here's a good article from The Huffington Post called "My Time Inside a Celeb Rehab Clinic."

The blogger, Erin Gates, spent time in a ritzy California treatment center to be treated for anorexia back in the early 1990s. In her article, triggered by the rash of celebrity "anorexia sightings," exposes the realities of anorexia treatment.

The article starts:

I have no shame in sharing with others that I battled anorexia as a teenager. A simple diet to rid myself of baby fat ignited the genetically predisposed genes in my DNA and furiously bloomed into a severe illness that almost cost me my life and my loved ones their sanity. In 1993 when I became sick, anorexia was not on the tip of everyone's tongue as it is now. It was treated with a more somber attitude because it had yet to become the "celebrity affliction" it is today. People are so quick to label someone anorexic now, when there truly are some people who are naturally very thin and others who actually have taken a diet too far. Anorexia is not a term to use so loosely. It is somewhat insulting to those of us who have been through the dark trenches of this disease -- namely me.

What really upsets me about the modern day treatment of this life-threatening, very serious disease is the way it is glamorized in the tabloids and on television. I, for one, can tell you that this is no red carpet-worthy experience. Day after day I see photos of jutting collarbones and reed thin arms on every magazine cover with "diet tips" on how to get such an envious figure. But this is no diet. Despite the naïve thinking that anorexia is a "choice" or simply a way of losing weight, it is a diagnosable disease that has been shown to be not only genetically predisposed but also bears the highest mortality rate of any psychiatric illness. 20% of anorexics die prematurely from complications of the disease.

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1 comment:

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I'm a science writer, a jewelry design artist, a bookworm, a complete geek, and mom to a wonderful kitty. I am also recovering from a decade-plus battle with anorexia nervosa. I believe that complete recovery is possible, and that the first step along that path is full nutrition.

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nour·ish: (v); to sustain with food or nutriment; supply with what is necessary for life, health, and growth; to cherish, foster, keep alive; to strengthen, build up, or promote



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