Thursday, January 1, 2015

Growing Up with a Mom Who Has an Eating Disorder - a few more thoughts

originally posted 28 NOV 2014

Earlier today, I shared something I don't talk about often. My mother has an eating disorder.

During the day, some other random thoughts struck me and thought I'd share them.

Our family enables her. For her birthday, my sister was putting together a slide show of her life. She went through all the photos and photoshopped them. She slimmed the thighs and made her even skinnier in the pictures. When you consider that my mother is already underweight and looking gaunt, it just seemed ridiculous. When confronted, my sister said that if she didn't our mother would just complain. Well, she's right but it was definitely enabling her.

My mother has spent so many decades avoiding most foods that now, if we go out for a holiday or she eats at a restaurant, she breaks out in a rash and gets really puffy. Her body can no longer handle foods. She sits there at her stove steaming her face because she says it gets rid of the puffiness and toxins or whatever.

She is also in a word of faith church. Health and wealth stuff. If you're not healthy and wealthy, you're not a true Christian sort of rot. As a result, she won't share with people about her ailments. Very few people know about her Osteoporosis and her episodes where she has been bedridden. I knew but I'm in another state and she later told me I'm not allowed to tell anybody.

But, I'm not an enabler. She has a problem and she needs help. I only wish our family would band together to get her that help but it seems to be easier to photoshop her photos and sweep the problem under the rug.

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