Karen 1
Friday, March 1, 2013
Karen was never cured of anorexia
Karen had not recovered from anorexia when she came home from her therapy in 1982. She felt pressured to cure herself. You just don't recover after 3 months of being in a hospital. Her family was waiting for her, and she had to get back to them. This was a tragedy. Weight gain was considered by her family as a sign of being cured, which is anything but the truth, and gave Karen a false sense of accomplishment. It was never about putting weight on but getting to a point of acceptance and contentment with life. She still wasn't happy and hadn't resolved that critical issue. So she resorted to ipecac as another anorexic habit to exert control of her body once again. If her weight was above 100 pounds, she and her family would consider that as not being anorexic. Anorexia is so much more complex than a number on the scale.
Karen had years of recovery ahead of her had she not died. The idea of recording and touring was simply insane. Richard realized she wasn't well. But that was purely from a physical standpoint. Like his mother, I don't think he believed or really even understood what anorexia was all about. I'm sure Karen felt tremendous pressure to just get cured and get back to business. That simply wasn't fair to her.
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It amazes me that she is one of the most extreme publicized cases of Anorexia, and her family watched her disappear, and even after she died they were referring to her illness as a diet... it really makes me frustrated.
ReplyDeleteCompletely agree with you. To hear her mom keep saying she just didn't want to eat is very frustrating. Her issue wasn't about eating. I think is also what contributed to her early death. She left therapy too early thinking she had put weight on therefore was 'cured'.
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