AboutJeanne Rust, PhD Expertise I can answer any questions in the field of eating disorders
Experience I have 20 years of experience in treating eating disorders of all kinds. I also do consultations for people who are starting treatment centers.
Education/Credentials Northwestern University -- BA
Masters in Counseling
Doctorate in Clinical Psychology -- Saybrook institute
Question QUESTION: Dear Jeanne,
Writing you this is very hard for me to do. i dont know where to even start but i feel like i need to ask because i really dont know what to do anymore. I have developed an obsession against food. I hardly eat, and if i do its maybe about 100-200 calories per day. i am not under weight, id say im at the perfect weight for my height, and pefect size. Yet i dont feel like i am. I see myself and i feel fat, i see pictures and i feel like i need to loose weight because i look huge. If i do eat i feel very bad about it. health wise i am not doing so good. My hair falls out, i get bruises everywhere, and its hard for me to go to the restroom, i always have hedaches, and i am always tired, dizzy, i have dry mouth. Im really scared because i know i have a problem i just dont know if its serious? can you please advice me jeane
:[ I dont throw up nor do i force myself and i dont think id ever do that. Its just my obsession and fear of gaining weight. Do you think i have an eating disorder?
Sincerely,
Angela
ANSWER: Dear Angela,
I can tell from your letter that you are very ill from the eating disorder. When you get to the place where you're bruising and your hair is falling out, it's time to get some serious help. Please please, find a therapist who specializes in eating disorders, a good nutritionist, and make an appointment with your doctor asap. You are very acute at this point -- get to a doctor asap!! Do not pass GO --
The good news is that you can become very well and not be FAT -- I promise you this -- I also promise you that if you continue to go on the way you are that you'll die. This is a horrible thing. You have lost a lot of cognitive ability -- this is why you see yourself in the mirror as fat when in fact you're not at all!! I don't even have to ask you your height and weight to know that....
Please keep in touch with me and let me know what you do! Let me know how I can help you!!
QUESTION: i will give you my height and weight and my size i am 5'10 and i weigh roughly about 160 to 165 and i am a size 7 to me 160 is soooo much and for that reason i stress out and i feel like the numbe ron that scale is too large to be me because my sister is 130 and shes a size 7 like me and shes 5'9. I shouldnt compare but it doesnt make sense how we are the same size yet i weigh 30 pounds more. I know i can die and i dont want that. my hair doesnt fall out as much but i do see a difference its gotten so thin lately. yesterday i saw my palms and jeanne my veins were dark blue like almost popping out all my veins were blue an di got very scared because i dont know what that means. My friends know i have a problem atleast the few that i have confided in but im so scared to tell my family. im so scared they'ss think im stupid. Im also scared to go to a nutritionist and for them to make me eat because i feel if i eat i will gain weight and i dont want that :[
im obsessing more and more for instance nos i literally weigh myself like 3 times a day and if i see the number larger i start panicking. Im also always so cold. recently i tend to be cold alot.
i used to weigh 220 lbs and be a size 16 and since may i dropped to a size 7 and 160 lbs. in the beginning i was loosing weight the healthy way working out and eating healthy but when i stopped working out i stopped eating and i droped about 40 lbs in 3 months :[ im so scared jeanne
Answer Of course, you're scared, Angela. You have a very serious condition. You are obsessed, frightened, and depressed!
I'm wondering if there is anyone who is safe for you to speak with -- an aunt, a grandma, a school counselor, a friend's mother? You are not stupid -- no one really wants to have an eating disorder on purpose -- as long as you are feeling that you're fat, and you're focusing on nothing but how you look, what you're going to eat, what you're not going to eat, what you're going to do with it after you eat it, you don't have time to feel or focus on anything else. The eating disorder is a coping mechanism that almost removes you from everyday life.
Life is life -- and life is not fair. It all depends on how we cope with life -- are we going to use something that is harmful for us like an eating disorder or can we discover other ways that are much healthier??
A nutritionist can't make you eat but she can offer you choices on what you want to do. She doesn't want you to be fat -- but simply healthy! A nutritionist is not an enemy -- but a real friend.
