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(part 4) - surrounded with psychology
IV. Eating Disorders
Today is day four and I’ll be visiting a family household. The mother and father do not have any mental health disorders that I’m aware of but they do have three daughters.
All three of them are sisters who have different types of eating disorders. The youngest has bulimia, the middle sister has anorexia, and the oldest has binge eating disorder. I will be observing each three during my stay and make sure to write everything down as well as comparing the two. This will be an interesting one for sure.
I met the parents as well as all three girls and right away, I could see who was anorexic. She was very boney in the face, arms, and legs. She didn’t look like she would need medical attention yet but I could tell it was starting to get to that point by how bad it still looked. I wondered if her parents or her two other sisters even realized how bad this was. How could they not see it? I decided that she would be the first for me to observe.
I smelled something coming from the kitchen which smelled delicious. It was time for breakfast for the family. Everyone set the table and the parents set down all the food onto the center of the table. I saw a look of disgust coming from the girl with anorexia, a normal one from the girl with bulimia, but excitement from the girl with binge eating. That was something I wanted to write down. They all sat down, taking food and placing them on their plates. The girl who was anorexic took a small amount while the girl with bulimia and binge eating took a little more. The mother said, “Why don’t you put a little more on your plate sweetie? I’m sure you’re hungry.” She insisted only for her mother’s sake. She took a little bit more on her plate. I could tell eating food was a challenge for her. She began taking a bite of everything, chewing her food for long amounts of time so her parents could see she was eating.
I now wanted to observe the girl with bulimia eat her food. She was eating most of her food but then she needed to be excused to go to the bathroom. Within a few minutes, I heard sounds of vomit coming from the bathroom. When she came out, she said, “Mom and dad, I just threw up. I don’t feel so good. I think there was something wrong in my food.” They said, “It tastes fine to me. Maybe you’re getting the stomach bug or something.” She shrugged her shoulders and went upstairs. I wrote this down.
Lastly, I observed the girl with binge eating disorder. She was already having seconds after she ate her first. The father said, “Don’t you think you’re eating a little too much? You already had a lot of food.” The mother agreed and said, “That’s all your having. No more after that.” She felt guilty for eating a lot so she put the food she didn’t eat back on the other plate. She rinsed off her plate and ran upstairs. The parents just looked at each other in confusion and continued to finish their meals.
As they almost finished eating, someone had rang the door bell and both of them got up to go see who it was. The girl with anorexia quickly got up and threw the rest of her food away. She said to herself, “I need to go weigh myself and see how much I just gained.” She’d only taken a few bites of her food but was worried if she gained anything from that. I had to write that down.
She went upstairs and I followed her up to try and talk to her. She went into the upstairs bathroom and weighed herself on the scale. She said outloud, “Oh my god! I’m 98 now?!” She began to get upset by this. I knocked on the door and told her it was only me. She opened the door and stared at herself in the mirror. She said “God, I look so fat. Don’t you agree?” I told her no not at all. I also said that if this continues and she got any thinner, she can end up in a hospital or worse, she can die. She said, “Oh please, I’m fine. I just need to lose at least 3 more pounds so I can be back at 95.” I told her that it was so unhealthy to be that skinny and that I would tell her parents how bad it was. I didn’t want her to be seriously ill. She looked like she had no energy, her face was dried out, she looked very sick. She said, “You better not tell anyone! I SAID THAT I’M FINE!” She slammed the door and started to cry.
I wanted to find one of the two other sisters to see how they were doing. This was just a mess. I saw the girl with binge eating disorder come out of her room. She was going downstairs and said she was still hungry. I followed her downstairs. She went into the pantry, opened a new bag of chips and started stuffing them into her mouth. She then opened a box of brownies and began stuffing it in her mouth. Before I got to her, her mother saw her in the pantry with all of that food in in her mouth. She was furious. “Oh so you’re the one who’s been eating all the snacks, huh?” She tried hiding but her mother snatched the bag of chips and the box of brownies from her hands. “I guess I’ll need to find a better hiding spot for the snacks. No more junk for you. You’re done.” She began to scream. She said, “No mom please!! I can’t live without it, please mom!” She fell onto the floor and began to cry.
I had to leave because this was all a lot for me to handle. Three girls who all had eating disorders was a very big deal. I wanted to have a private conversation with their parents. I told them that this was not okay and they all needed to seek mecical attention immediatley. They both agreed and thanked me for telling them because they had no idea it was this much of an issue. I couldn’t understand how that could be but I thanked them for me being with them today and said my goodbyes. I gave them both my number and contact information if they needed to let me know anything.
© eyesthatcry
Today is day four and I’ll be visiting a family household. The mother and father do not have any mental health disorders that I’m aware of but they do have three daughters.
All three of them are sisters who have different types of eating disorders. The youngest has bulimia, the middle sister has anorexia, and the oldest has binge eating disorder. I will be observing each three during my stay and make sure to write everything down as well as comparing the two. This will be an interesting one for sure.
I met the parents as well as all three girls and right away, I could see who was anorexic. She was very boney in the face, arms, and legs. She didn’t look like she would need medical attention yet but I could tell it was starting to get to that point by how bad it still looked. I wondered if her parents or her two other sisters even realized how bad this was. How could they not see it? I decided that she would be the first for me to observe.
I smelled something coming from the kitchen which smelled delicious. It was time for breakfast for the family. Everyone set the table and the parents set down all the food onto the center of the table. I saw a look of disgust coming from the girl with anorexia, a normal one from the girl with bulimia, but excitement from the girl with binge eating. That was something I wanted to write down. They all sat down, taking food and placing them on their plates. The girl who was anorexic took a small amount while the girl with bulimia and binge eating took a little more. The mother said, “Why don’t you put a little more on your plate sweetie? I’m sure you’re hungry.” She insisted only for her mother’s sake. She took a little bit more on her plate. I could tell eating food was a challenge for her. She began taking a bite of everything, chewing her food for long amounts of time so her parents could see she was eating.
I now wanted to observe the girl with bulimia eat her food. She was eating most of her food but then she needed to be excused to go to the bathroom. Within a few minutes, I heard sounds of vomit coming from the bathroom. When she came out, she said, “Mom and dad, I just threw up. I don’t feel so good. I think there was something wrong in my food.” They said, “It tastes fine to me. Maybe you’re getting the stomach bug or something.” She shrugged her shoulders and went upstairs. I wrote this down.
Lastly, I observed the girl with binge eating disorder. She was already having seconds after she ate her first. The father said, “Don’t you think you’re eating a little too much? You already had a lot of food.” The mother agreed and said, “That’s all your having. No more after that.” She felt guilty for eating a lot so she put the food she didn’t eat back on the other plate. She rinsed off her plate and ran upstairs. The parents just looked at each other in confusion and continued to finish their meals.
As they almost finished eating, someone had rang the door bell and both of them got up to go see who it was. The girl with anorexia quickly got up and threw the rest of her food away. She said to herself, “I need to go weigh myself and see how much I just gained.” She’d only taken a few bites of her food but was worried if she gained anything from that. I had to write that down.
She went upstairs and I followed her up to try and talk to her. She went into the upstairs bathroom and weighed herself on the scale. She said outloud, “Oh my god! I’m 98 now?!” She began to get upset by this. I knocked on the door and told her it was only me. She opened the door and stared at herself in the mirror. She said “God, I look so fat. Don’t you agree?” I told her no not at all. I also said that if this continues and she got any thinner, she can end up in a hospital or worse, she can die. She said, “Oh please, I’m fine. I just need to lose at least 3 more pounds so I can be back at 95.” I told her that it was so unhealthy to be that skinny and that I would tell her parents how bad it was. I didn’t want her to be seriously ill. She looked like she had no energy, her face was dried out, she looked very sick. She said, “You better not tell anyone! I SAID THAT I’M FINE!” She slammed the door and started to cry.
I wanted to find one of the two other sisters to see how they were doing. This was just a mess. I saw the girl with binge eating disorder come out of her room. She was going downstairs and said she was still hungry. I followed her downstairs. She went into the pantry, opened a new bag of chips and started stuffing them into her mouth. She then opened a box of brownies and began stuffing it in her mouth. Before I got to her, her mother saw her in the pantry with all of that food in in her mouth. She was furious. “Oh so you’re the one who’s been eating all the snacks, huh?” She tried hiding but her mother snatched the bag of chips and the box of brownies from her hands. “I guess I’ll need to find a better hiding spot for the snacks. No more junk for you. You’re done.” She began to scream. She said, “No mom please!! I can’t live without it, please mom!” She fell onto the floor and began to cry.
I had to leave because this was all a lot for me to handle. Three girls who all had eating disorders was a very big deal. I wanted to have a private conversation with their parents. I told them that this was not okay and they all needed to seek mecical attention immediatley. They both agreed and thanked me for telling them because they had no idea it was this much of an issue. I couldn’t understand how that could be but I thanked them for me being with them today and said my goodbyes. I gave them both my number and contact information if they needed to let me know anything.
© eyesthatcry
