Dear Worried,
Not only have I personally suffered through severe anorexia and bulimia for 12 years but, now I am a psychotherapist with my own practice that specializes in helping people with eating disorders!! I think your friend needs all the love and support from her friends and family but, I think, even more importantly is that she needs help from adults that are trained in dealing with body image and control issues!! Laxatives and any other signs your friend has exhibited toward having an eating disorder are VERY serious matters that need to be corrected immediately regardless of whether or not she looks emaciated or thin at this point. I know that telling an older person is not a "popular" thing to do but, I think it is the most loving at this point!! Laxatives and other popular ways of purging our bodies of food have VERY real, lasting effects on our bodies (whether visible or not) that can ultimately result in death in an otherwise healthy looking individual. If your friend's electrolytes are "off" (out of whack) from simply dieting, overdosing on laxatives can cause fainting spells, light headedness, headaches, loss of memory, or sudden heart failure...to name a few!! I recommend that if you and others feel like getting together and talking to this girl (called an intervention) is easiest on you then, by all means but, I think the goal of this chat should be to get this girl to seek counseling and to empower HER to tell her parents about what is going on so that they can provide additional support! Most of individual counseling for eating disorders is centered around family therapy...unless there are unmitigating circumstances. I want to commend you though on recognizing the seriousness of this situation and your courage to seek advice!! You should know that you sound like you are a really good, capable friend that truely cares!! Congratulations to you!
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Sharon
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