The first thing to keep in mind is that as an "outsider" (not suffering from an Eating Disorder yourself) there are many things you cannot do to help a family member or friend to get better. You cannot force an Anorexic to eat, keep a bulimic from purging, or make a Compulsive Overeater stop overeating. The first thing to realize once you have come to the awareness that your loved-one suffers from an Eating Disorder, is that you must not concentrate immediately on the food. All forms of Eating Disorders are emotionally based and the behaviors are only a symptom to emotional and stress related problems. As said many times on this site, disordered eating is an attempt to control, hide, stuff, avoid and forget emotional pain, stress and/or self-hate.
If you are the parent of a child under 18 you will have difficult decisions to make regarding their care. Regardless of pleas to "not make me," and promises that the behavior will stop, you will have to stay very attuned to what is......
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