Heather advised that she remembered always being "heavier than other children- when growing up, but that it did not bother her until she entered her early teenaged years. She reported that during this time her peer group, as well as her parents, became critical of her weight. She also said that her mother was a "perfectionist-, who made her dissatisfaction with Heather's weight known.
Heather advised that her eating disorder had begun at the age of 14 in an attempt to control her weight and better "fit in- with the other school-aged children in a small community. If you did not "fit in-, you simply "did not exist-. After seeing an after-school TV program on bulimia, she remembered thinking to herself that she would "just try it for a short while-. Her temporary solution to control her weight ended seven years later, after multiple hospitalizations, when she finally began the long process of recovery.
As her early attempts to control her weight began to be noticed, she was rewarded with praise and admiration. This spurred her on from her promise to herself that this was only a temporary situation, into actually becoming a way of life. She admitted that this way of life was full of "shame and embarrassment, deception and manipulation-, always conducted in a secretive fashion. Living in the country, she was able to purge after meals with the family at home by going outside into a nearby wooded area. Years later, she had become expert enough to purge inside in silence without being overheard.
Heather reported that she had become accustomed to purging up to 7 and 8 times during the day. Her metabolism changed; she became weak and had no energy; and she suffered from hair loss and dental deterioration. Heather now additionally suffers from acid reflux, a perforated esophagus, and other maladies associated with seven years of abusing her health. .
Heather was hospitalized for the first time at the age of 16.
