Richard Hogan: It is terrible to see wonderful teenagers suffer with insidious anorexia

It is very important that we don’t suggest concepts of weight gain and weight loss to our children at a young age

Of all the disorders I work with, anorexia nervosa has to be one of the most complicated and difficult to resolve. It can so quickly envelop a person’s life, and consume it. What makes it so difficult to break is the fact that not eating makes the person feel good and eating makes them self-loathe and feel terrible.

It is one of the most complex positive feedback loops a person can get stuck in. The thing they use to make themselves feel good, food avoidance, is the thing that is bringing their life into chaos and potential destruction.