IN REFERENCE to the article “Anorexia patient’s plea for help” (June 24), I totally agree with the comments made by Juliet Williams. I am one of the 13 lucky ones in New Zealand receiving residential care for anorexia nervosa. It scares me that with up to 5% of people suffering from anorexia, we as a country have so few services or treatment facilities. Most hospitals do not have the knowledge or understanding to work with anorexic patients, as I recently experienced after collapsing in relation to anorexia.
I am coming to realise that unless an individual has suffered or is suffering from anorexia, nobody can truly understand the care we need. Collaboration between medical specialists and recovering or recovered anorexics is needed in New Zealand to address the problem. Within the residential care facility I am in, treatment focuses hugely on the medical and physical aspects of the disease but also includes some holistic approaches such as music and art therapy. I know I could not fight this disease alone, despite having family support, and it makes me angry to think that so few people have the opportunity to fight this humiliating, destructive illness.
Megan Horsham
Hutt Valley
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