Telling your family - Eating Disorder Recovery Message Board

Red1984 · 12-06-2004, 06:39 PM

I have been bulimic for almost a year and I can't deal with it anymore. I know that I need to change my life, but there's no way I could ever recover without professional help. I just don't know how to talk to my family about this. They know that I skip meals everyday, basically starving myself and that I work out for at least an hour a day 7 days a week. They also know that I think i'm fat at 110 pounds and I talk about this all the time. But they don't seem to think it's a problem, I guess. The only thing they don't know is that I've been making myself throw up the last few weeks. There just doesn't seem to be a good way to bring this subject up. I honestly think they will just tell me I need to eat and stop complaining all the time. How did any of you guys tell your families? Did they already know that you had an eating disorder or did you hide it? I would really appreciate hearing some of your stories and maybe it will help me tell someone in my family. Thanks.

littleone101 · 12-06-2004, 07:04 PM

Hey.
I told my mother probably the harder way. I hid it for almost a year blaming my weightloss on stress and depression (although those were a factor) but I finally told a friend who had suspiciouns... after I'd gone a week without eating and what I did eat I didn't keep down and I'd lost almost 15 lbs.. my friend took me to the hospital... after that... I didn't have much of a choice but to tell my mother... actually the doctor told her so it wasn't too hard.. but it still is cause she doesn't understand.. and right now she thinks I'm doing fine but I'm not though she doesn't seem to notice.. but yeah. I can't say they'll ever understand you, I'm sure they'll be supportive but don't get your hopes up that they will understand. Others don't. But do tell them cause they can get you the help you need and help you get better.
Hope that helps. And hope everything goes well. I'll be thinking and praying for ya.
~ Mel

cloud9vball · 12-07-2004, 01:16 PM

my mom has always been kind of suspicious about all three of us (her daughters) the other night tho i told my bf i hadn't eaten since tuesday (he knows about my ed) and now i am cutting myself also, he finally got so fed up he called my mom and told her. it's really embarrasing. now she calls me everyday to see if i've eaten. i'm kinda glad she knows...becuase maybe now i can get help, but then in a way i don't want to get help because i don't want to get fat...i dont' know...it's tough..and it sucks...i'm just real embarrased that she knows
peace
cloud9vball

emmy27 · 12-07-2004, 08:26 PM

Now that I look back on things, I don't really think that my parents ever ignored my secret cries for help. Sometimes they just can't see the things that they don't want to see. They ignored things b/c they kept telling themselves that their daughter was fine, hoping to wake up one day and actually believe it. As hard as it is, you really need to be blunt and say, "HEY, Help me I have a problem ....." Parents are just people like us with problems themselves, and people will ignore what they don't want to see.

bbybyrd · 12-08-2004, 03:32 AM

My sister noticed my eating habits before I even knew it was a problem. When I told her that I have mia/ana she said that she already knew because we used to live together and she watches me eat. She just called me an emotional eater though. She didn't know at the time that I was abusing laxatives. i told my mom a few months after my diagnosis with my therapist/pdoc. she was concerned but I had problems when i was living at home with ana for awhile so I don't think she was too shocked.