A Friend

[Guest Leigh]

a friend of mine has been struggling with body image problems, and not eating enough...he thinks he's fat even though...well, he's very, very thin.

anyway. he might be getting some help, so i just wanted to ask y'all to keep him in your thoughts/prayers, etc... cuz i am worried about his safety, and i don't' want him to do permanent damage...or any damage.

he's young, and emotionally fragile, and he is depressed, and confused...i am afraid that if he doesn't get help for his body image issues he might harm himself in other ways as well...so...just keep him in your thoughts, because he is talking about it right now, so there is some hope.

thanks

peace&love

leigh

[Guest Leigh]

i've spent the last 3 nights talking with him...and he doesn't seem to be improving...

big problem with internet friendships is that i cannot keep tabs on him at all...

and i don't know if he is getting professional help (he mentioned that his mom wanted to take him..)

but...yeah. i don't know how to help him, and it is stressful and i am afraid for his health and safety.

if anyone has experience with anorexia, i would appreciate any advice you can give me for when he starts talking badly about himself...

is there anyway i can get through to him? or is it dependent on him wanting to stop like alcoholism and other self harm..?

thanks.

peace&love

leigh

[Sally]

Leigh,

I have shot a flare into the chat rooms so we'll see if someone can get to this pretty soon.

In the meantime all you can do is tlak to your friend and hope that his mom can get him the kind of help he really needs, this is serious and needs to be reversed but you can't just say eat and have them go , OK.

It is much deeper than just not hungry it is a whole mental image of looking in a mirror and seeing a fat person when you are actually down to almost a skeleton.

I had a friend with anorexia that got so bad she was hospitalized for several weeks.

Stay with him and support him is about all you can do from a distance.

Love ya,

Sally

[Guest Leigh]

Leigh,

I have shot a flare into the chat rooms so we'll see if someone can get to this pretty soon.

In the meantime all you can do is tlak to your friend and hope that his mom can get him the kind of help he really needs, this is serious and needs to be reversed but you can't just say eat and have them go , OK.

It is much deeper than just not hungry it is a whole mental image of looking in a mirror and seeing a fat person when you are actually down to almost a skeleton.

I had a friend with anorexia that got so bad she was hospitalized for several weeks.

Stay with him and support him is about all you can do from a distance.

Love ya,

Sally

Thanks Sally,

I am doing everything I can, even though i know it may have no impact. at least this way he knows that there are some people out there who care about him.

peace&love

leigh