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Atypical Eating Disorder

I was watching the show "Intervention" about this woman that was sexually abused by the father of her best friend when she was 11 years old. She was always a healthy child but right after the abuse, she started having difficulties swallowing (due to the things her abuser made her do). When the abuse happened, the parents did not report it to the police even though her father was a cop. However, they sent her to a therapist who did report the incident. The offender was arrested, and was giving only probation. She has big issues with her father because he never talked to her about the abuse.

Many doctors have seen her and all of them say that physically she has no problems with swallowing but it's psychological. When she reached teenage years she was so undernourished that they put her in a feeding tube. She has been using it for the past 14 years. She feels hungry at times and "chews" food and then spits it into a cup. She does this (both feeding tube and "chewing/spitting") in front of people.

She has two daughters (ages 5 and 9)and they have to prepare their breakfast, etc because she is sleeping. Her oldest daughter does not want to be around her.

She also had a heart attack last year and is hooked to several prescribed medications.

Disorder Eating Atypical

That is so sad and I feel as if the criminals behind these dark evils need to go through the same process. The act of swallowing obviously consistantly made her remember her abuse. The work of psychologists will obviously be to disassociate the act of eating with her past.

Atypical Eating Disorder Health & Special Psychology

It seems it did not work. She stopped using the prescribed meds and even though she went to the rehab center for two months and learn how to swallow baby food, etc when she returned home she continued using the feeding tube but gained 25lbs.

It is a very sad case not only for her but for her kids who do not feel she loves them (she is always sleeping and does not take care of them) one of her babies when she was born was just 3lbs. I am not going to judge her because only God knows what she goes through but I do understand her relatives and family too who does not think is appropriate for her to be feeding herself this way (through a tube and an OPEN wound on her stomach) in front of the whole family, as well as when they are eating dinner, she is with a hamburger on her hand and a cup in the other, chewing and throwing up food into a cup every five seconds while everyone is eating. I just saw it on tv and I found it disgusting. It's very hard to see that. Her reply was "if anyone does not like it, then don't see it".

It was hard to see her kids trying to play with her and craving for her attention and she would just push them away.

Disorder Eating Atypical

In her case she has been trapped for some time and it will take a lot of continuous intervention to help her. Something inside her has been switched off. Her lack of eating properly is probably equal to someone hooked on heroin.