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Topic : 02/25 Deadly Thin

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Created on : Friday, February 22, 2008, 12:10:38 pm
Author : DrPhilBoard1
Imagine standing in front of a mirror and seeing an obese person staring back at you. Now imagine that this person looking back at you actually weighs only 60 pounds. Dr. Phil takes a look inside the mind of an anorexic and bulimic 28-year-old named Aimee, whose frame is so fragile after years of deprivation, doctors have said she has the bones of a 90-year-old woman. Her bulimia is so extreme, she vomits up to 150 times a day and by evening, sees blood. What dark secret from Aimee’s childhood could have set her on this path to self-destruction? And is she too far gone, or can she come back from her downward spiral before it’s too late? To answer these and other critical questions, Dr. Phil calls on his team of medical experts, The Doctors: Dr. Lisa Masterson, an OB/GYN; family therapist Dr. Tara Fields; pediatrician Dr. Jim Sears; plastic surgeon Dr. Andrew Ordon; and E.R. physician Dr. Travis Stork. Plus, Dr. Phil invites a previous guest who was starving for perfection to share her story. Will her personal triumph inspire Aimee to believe that recovery is within reach? Plus The Doctors address teen obesity. What's at stake in this new generation's battle of the bulge? Get in on the conversation!

Find out what happened on the show.


 
housewife52
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February 25, 2008, 2:57 pm PST

02/25 Deadly Thin

Quote From: jndhuck

I'm sorry, but as someone who at the moment has to budget  for groceries and sometimes skips meals so that my children can have enough to eat, I have no sympathy for bulimics.  There are people in my town with even less than I, and I'm sure they or any of the other starving people in war-torn places on this planet would be shocked at the sheer waste, greed, and the amount of selfishness involved in this disease!  This is definitely a disease of affluence.  And what kind of a mother goes out and buys all the food her daughter needs to abuse herself this way?  For years and years?  I'm sure people would not be so sympathetic if Aimee had a drug problem and her mom was out scoring heroin or cooking meth!
The thing is this has morphed into a mental illness for her daughter. It has become a matter of life and death. She is just trying to keep her daughter alive. It has gotten beyond thier control. I doubt it is a disease of affluence, I knew a young woman years ago who was both bulimic and aneroxic. She never got to the point of this young woman but she had to go into a mental facility. She was very thin and always talked about how fat she was. This was before we knew anything about bulimia or anexoria. Her mother told me that they would go out to eat and her daughter would eat a tremendous amount of food and then go to the restroom. And then come back and eat even more. It took her mother a little while to figure out that she was going into the restroom to throw up. They were just average middle class people. The daughter was married at the time and had 4 kids. This was close to 30 years ago. People were doing this type of thing before we knew it was an illness,before it had a name. I also worked with a woman over 30 years ago who would come in to the restroom every day after lunch and throw up. I wondered why she was doing this, but didn't ask her. SHE told me that where she was dieting her stomach had shrunk and it made her throw up to eat. I thought it was strange but accepted her explanation. NOW, I know she was bulimic. She was not even real thin. It's not about sheer waste and greed. It is a mental illness.
 
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sara2115
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February 25, 2008, 3:00 pm PST

Jennifer

Jennifer looked GORGEOUS on your show today. It was like she has come back from the dead. I am so proud of her.
 
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barbdi5
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February 25, 2008, 3:01 pm PST

Question

This is just a thought I had while watching Amy on your show today. I do not understand why an

anorexic sees a fat person when they look in the mirror. So I was thinking, what would happen if you showed her an amaciated dog and an obese dog, this may sound silly, but a lot of people relate to animals and maybe seeing another species in the same predicament might see the amaciated dog and understand more.
 
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nurse_heather
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February 25, 2008, 3:09 pm PST

Saddened

I watched this show with my 6 year old daughter. I'm a nurse so we are pretty candid in my house about medical conditions. Since I watch Dr Phil whenever I can, she had already seen the commercials. She had a lot of questions which I gladly answered but she was so sad for this poor girl, as was I. I just wanted to say that I thought this was a very good show and I'm so happy that this issue was brought to light, especially in this day & age of "thin is in". I feel for this young lady & her family and I hope that Dr Phil does an update show, one way or the other, to let us know how she is doing.
 
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sculptedtodust
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February 25, 2008, 3:25 pm PST

02/25 Deadly Thin

I'm a recovering anorexic and for me this show was a bit triggering, if anything...

I never got as low as Aimee. I don't know how tall she is (but frankly it doesn't matter if she's 60 pounds...that's LOW.) But at 5'4'', my lowest weight was probably around 88 pounds. I now weigh 115, and at times I still want to lose. Seeing this show made me feel like I almost wasn't really sick- compared to Aimee at least. And it's not that I want attention, I'd never go on a show like this with my ED- but I think it just furthers the misconception that all anorexics get to 60 lbs or close.

The show offered only the most basic information about anorexia. I don't know if it could really help someone else, except maybe young girls who are "wannarexic." What I found helpful is that Dr. Phil noted that he'd put up a list of ED resources. I want to check that out.
 
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photo1129
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February 25, 2008, 3:31 pm PST

A dad

Wow, what can I say? As I watched this show I thought to myself, "What could have drove this young lady to this?", then as I learned it was the fact her father blamed her for someone molesting her, I came un-glued. I wanted to reach through the screen, hold her in my arms and tell her not all dads are like that. That in fact it was not her fought that those boys had molested her. I'm the father of an 18 year old daughter who went through the usual trials and tribulations of childhood. When something bad happened to her I was there for her and it just irks me that Aimee's dad was able to do this.

I noticed he wasn't on the show and not otherwise mentioned. Is he not around to see the fallout?

I hope this beautiful young lady makes it through the long road ahead and she will be in my prayers.

 

P.S.

Take it from a dad, it wasn't your fault!!!!!! And the boys should have paid one way or another for their actions, not you.
 
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lindsee
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February 25, 2008, 3:44 pm PST

02/25 Deadly Thin

I am a mom with an 11 yr old daughter diagnosed with an eating disorder. I have had many trials and tribulations in my life and there is  nothing that compares or prepares a person for this. My heart goes out to Aimee and her whole family as it is the whole family that has the disorder. I would have never believed this could be true if not for going  through this myself. It is so much tough love It is hard to even get through day to day. My daughters age has prevented her  in-patient care so we are doing the after care she would get first.WOW not easy, I commend mom for standing strong by her daughter, I know its not easy, Aimee you have it in you, DONT GIVE UP.
 
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leeana1
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February 25, 2008, 3:46 pm PST

Also........

Also, Dr. Phil never even brought up the fact that the mother is an enabler. If the mother was bringing food in to an overweight person, he would have blamed her for it. Why didn't he blame her for bringing the food into the house that this girl is throwing up?

 
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starkhubbard
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February 25, 2008, 3:48 pm PST

Yes, it is also a "mans" disorder!!!

Quote From: ramair

While it seems to be mostly young women having eating disorders, I suspect that some boys, and even men in their fifties, could have them. My husband has a co-worker my age, 55, who has lost a lot of weight in a relatively short time. When we go to an all-you-can-eat place, even though "Brent" wastes most of his food, he still eats enough that he shouldn't still be losing weight. And, after he's finished eating, he always goes to the rest-room. To throw up? I'm beginning to wonder. Anyone else here know any men they suspect have eating disorders?

I recently lost an Aunt to anorexia and bulimia. I have grown up watching these two disorders my whole life. My father also struggles with them. Although he is not as obsesed, just like any addiction he has his good times and his bad. My aunt developed the eating disorders through a bad  case of Post Pardum Depression after having her first and only son. Although we spent many years and alot of money sending her to  different treatment places, she never had the "light" go on. We all tried so hard to get her help, but like they say with any "addiction". The addict has to want to quit. I I refer to these two disorders as addictions quite often in teaching people about them, they are so much like an addiction, and definatly not an easy one to overcome!!! I give the biggest hug and support to those who have overcome these disorders, and a hug just as big to those trying to overcome these disorders!!! This is very much a man's disorder just as much as a womens, I have known my fair share of men suffering from these disorders!!!  

"life is worth so much more than money, never say it costs' to much for treatment...it is worth saving that life!!!"
 
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markbrown
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February 25, 2008, 3:51 pm PST

bodybuilding

   Me as a man I wanted to weight 200 pounds and have big muscles like a bodybuilder went I was a teenager and never succeed because I never took steroids. So I think that could be another show not just to loose weight but to gain muscular weights like a bodybuilders like I wanted to be because I was hook on the Joe Weiders magazine and I think Joe weiders a crook and I glad I never took steroids and I weight 170 pounds today with 5 foot 8 still lift weights but less.
 
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