When I think back to the years my sister suffered with her bulimia I can't believe it has been 13 years since she died. It was lonely, frightening, enraging and gut wrenching. I remember walking into Barnes and Nobel every other week holding hope there would be a new book that spoke to what my family was going through. My heart broke each time I left empty handed. I walked in that store the moment I could drive until I was 32 when she died and never found what I was searching for. There was no family support, no internet, my family was shamed, treatment was unhelpful and insurance was a joke. Honestly, my family has never been the same.  

Hope. I used to hate this word. I feared sharing Kacy's story concluding no one wanted to hear anything that wasn't about recovery. In fact, I supposed others were afraid of our story, as if her death was contagious. But my isolation and grief was debilitating and I could no longer tolerate the loneliness. Although painful, I was confident sharing our story was vital to help make change. With some trepidation, I decided to get involved. I began going to conferences, blogging and advocating. Almost immediately something beautiful happened, I found community and began to heal.

 Last year my mom and I attended the first annual DC MOM March! I had no idea what to expect and was a bit nervous. My fear was immediately eased as we were warmly welcomed, brought to the table to make our poster and were given t-shirts. We wore green shirts symbolizing we had lost someone. As soon as those shirts went on, the love, hugs and interest in our journey was moving and rendered me a bit speechless. Taking in the sea of purple and green shirts all holding beautiful posters of those they marched for, I witnessed the power of standing together. As family members, clinicians, friends and sufferers, we were a strong voice. Listening to moving speeches, music and personal stories brought a sense of empowerment. While my family had lost our fight, we took action, one step to help prevent others from this same fate.  

I will absolutely be marching again this year. I will march for my sister Kacy. I will march with other new and seasoned advocates all sharing the passion and courage to fight for real change in prevention, education, treatment and coverage. While it may seem like a long journey, when we stand together we will get Anna's Law passed! We will help end the egregious health insurance battles and increase funding for better treatment and research!  

 We will also stand together to end the silence, end the shame and remind us all, we are not alone! 

ANAD is honored to attend and support the MOM March Against Eating Disorders for the second year. ANAD executive director Laura Discipio invites you to join her in the heart of Washington D.C., on October 27, 2015 to support and represent everyone who has been personally affected by an eating disorder.

Eating disorders can be isolating for individuals as well as families, and the march is the perfect time to realize you’re not alone. Other people have been where you are and can empathize with you. They know how it feels to celebrate milestones like trying a new food or restoring weight instead of graduating from school or starting a new job. They know how eating disorders affect entire families and turn lives upside down.

ANAD believes it’s important to come together as a mass to share these stories about the struggles individuals and families face on the journey to recovery. We hear from thousands of people each year, and although they are all unique, there are similarities in their stories—having to travel out of state to access treatment, fighting with insurance companies for benefits, going to extreme lengths to pay for treatment—in some cases, taking out a second mortgage or filing for bankruptcy.

We hear on our helpline all too often about the bureaucracy families encounter at a time when all of their energy should be focused on recovery. It’s not fair parents have to fight the system at the same time they’re worried about saving their child’s life. It’s not fair they have to take out second mortgages in order to pay for treatment. ANAD also receives a lot of requests for information, so we know far too many misconceptions still exist about eating disorders. Too many people don’t know the symptoms of eating disorders or how important it is to seek treatment immediately. Too many people struggle to have their insurance company cover their treatment. Too many people are dying when we can do something to prevent it.

They deserve better. We all deserve better.

We must demand change from Congress because we are more powerful as a group than individually. We will raise our voices to share heart-wrenching stories of the struggles of finding treatment and ask Congress to act to prevent more unnecessary pain and suffering.

That is why ANAD continues to support the MOM March. We have to let our representatives in Congress know this is a crisis with a solution, which starts with passing the Anna Westin Act. We need more research funding to identify the causes of eating disorders and create new treatments. We need to train more educators, physicians and health care professionals on how to identify eating disorders and intervene to have the best chance at a full recovery. We need to hold insurance companies to the promise in the Mental Health Parity Act of coverage for residential treatment.

ANAD will continue to support the march and encourage our volunteers and supporters to call their representatives to ask them to vote “yes” on this bill. It’s way overdue. More than 30 million Americans struggle with eating disorders, which have the highest mortality rate of any mental illness, yet receive a fraction of the research funding and media attention of other illnesses. It’s time for change.

So attend the march. Lobby your officials. Let them know you hold them accountable for their vote.

Raise your voice. Be heard.

Register NOW! www.MarchAgainstED.com

http://www.anad.org/

The Mothers and Others March (MOM) unites those who have been effected by eating disorders.  It is a chance to come together as a people and share our common struggles and our collective hopes. Regardless if someone actually struggles with the disorder, eating disorders take away from everyone’s lives.  It is our job to unite and raise our voices to positive change in the eating disorder prevention treatment, and recovery movement!

In sixth grade I lost the friends that I grew up with, the strength acquired from receiving my black belt in Tae Kwon Do, my outgoing personality, and myself.  In ninth grade I lost my academic ability, the trust from my friends, and my dream for making and playing college basketball.   In tenth grade I lost the dignity from my parents, the respect from my high school peers, the enamel on my teeth, and the healthy body I once had.

What I want to say to my eating disorder is ‘thank you.’

What has been taken away from me has brought me to where I am in my life now.  I am the Community Organizer and Communications Specialist for The Emily Program Foundation.  Our mission is to save lives, change minds, and work to eliminate eating disorders.  I have the honor to now advocate for people who had the similar experiences that I have had.

My parents both stood by my side and watched me fall only to rise taller and stronger than before.  My mom and dad are both beautiful people and amazing parents and could not have raised me any better than they had.  This is a chance for people like my parents to come and show their support for eating disorder prevention and treatment as they were just as much in the grips of the disorder as I was.

Some people, and their family members and friends, are still struggling.  Come to the March!  This is for you!  If you cannot be there I will March for you, as well as the other hundreds of people who love and care for you so deeply.

The MOM March brings us together to unite our voices and our efforts to prevent eating disorders from taking away anything else in people’s lives.  We get to stand at the Nation’s Capital and speak our message that as a society ‘we need to prevent and effectively treat eating disorders of all kinds!’

On October 27th and 28th The Emily Program Foundation will be marching and lobbying for change.  We will be using our voices on a federal level to advocate for treatment and for training.  We are lobbying for The Anna Westin Act with the Eating Disorder Coalition to address the three T’s- Training, Treatment, and Truth in Advertisement.  The AWA clarifies congressional intent to include all eating disorders in the implementation of the Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008.

These two days will be bring us one step closer to preventing and eliminating eating disorders!  We will bring about positive change in the eating disorder prevention, treatment, and recovery movement!

Register now for #MarchAgainstED and #EDCLobbyDay - www.MarchAgainstED.com

by Kate Clemmer of  The Center for Eating Disorders at Sheppard Pratt.  We thank you for your support of the MOM March.

Teacher
Nurse
Barista
Artist
Accountant
Grandmother
Student
CEO
Musician
Author
Mom
News Anchor
Military Officer
College Athlete
Dad

They care for you, entertain you and bring you joy.  They protect you and teach you, create things for you.  They help you and mentor you. They are varied. They are diverse. They are important.

They are people you might see every day.

And they are people we might see every day in the course of providing care and treatment for individuals and families impacted by eating disorders.

At The Center for Eating Disorders at Sheppard Pratt, we see numerous people each day struggling with anorexia, bulimia, binge eating disorder, ARFID and other feeding and eating disorders.  These individuals with eating disorders are varied.  They are diverse. They are important.

This is why we were proud to participate in the inaugural March Against Eating Disorders on Capitol Hill last fall and why we are eager to return this year on October 27th for an even larger and more impactful event. As physicians, therapists, dietitians and nurses specializing in the treatment of people with eating disorders, we see the daily struggle, the medical repercussions, the fear and the impact of eating disorders on relationships, careers and families.  But we also see the hope, the healing and comfort that comes with treatment.  That is why it’s so important for those of us in the field to stand up and share our voices too.

Why do we march?   

• We march because eating disorders continue to be stigmatized, sensationalized, overlooked and underfunded despite having the highest mortality rate of any mental illness.
  
  
• We march because no one chooses to have an eating disorder.  Eating disorders are highly heritable illnesses, meaning 50-80% of a person’s risk for developing an eating disorder is genetic. Additional causes are varied and complex.   
  
  
• We march because no family should hear “it’s just a phase, she’ll grow out of it.” from a medical professional before they make it through our doors. A lack of specialized eating disorder training for physicians delays detection and appropriate referrals. Delaying treatment delays recovery.
  
  
• We march because 20-30% of our patients are men who thought they were the “only one” and suffered in silence for a long time. Eating disorders don’t discriminate and treatment shouldn’t either.
  
  
• We march because parents do not cause eating disorders but eating disorders can cause heartache for parents and family members. Guilt, blame, stigma and outdated stereotypes can prevent families from getting the help they deserve. Current research supports an understanding that caregivers can play a positive and integral role in helping a loved one to heal from their eating disorder.
  
  
• We march because eating disorders can be deadly but they can also be overcome.  Early intervention and evidence-based treatment makes a difference.
  
  
• We march because no one should have to get sicker before they can get well. Insurance coverage for eating disorders must not be a barrier to quality care.
  
  
• We march because we live together in a culture that equates weight loss with health, yet we work every day with individuals whose weight loss is associated with osteopenia, hair loss, fatigue, cardiac arrhythmia and infertility.  We support a movement that embraces health-focused goals for our schools and communities instead of weight-focused goals.
  
  

These are just some of the reasons why we are excited to stand with The Alliance for Eating Disorders Awareness, The Eating Disorder Coalition, and MAED – Mothers Against Eating Disorders at The #MarchAgainstED in our nation’s capitol.  Join us on October 27th to take a stand and help increase awareness about eating disorders.

Why will you march?  

Register now! www.MarchAgainstED.com

www.eatingdisorder.org/
www.allianceforeatingdisorders.com
http://eatingdisorderscoalition.org/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/MothersagainstED/





On October 27th and 28th, 2015, Center for Discovery will join MAED, The Alliance, and the Eating Disorders Coalition for the M.O.M. (Mothers & Others) March and EDC Lobby Day. Both events, held in Washington, DC, bring together families and advocates from around the nation and around the world to unite and raise voices in the fight against eating disorders.

Events like the M.O.M. March and EDC Lobby Day highlight to legislators and the general public the seriousness of eating disorders and the need for better insurance coverage. Advocacy at these events includes talking to legislators about the Anna Westin Act of 2015. Designed to improve eating disorder treatment and prevention by focusing on training, treatment, and truth in advertising, the Anna Westin Act has bipartisan support and is poised to be a vehicle for change in how eating disorder treatment is covered.

Center for Discovery is very proud to sponsor these events. Since 1997 we have been a leader in providing evidence-based residential and intensive outpatient eating disorder treatment. Each day we encounter children, adolescents, and adult women who exist in dire physical and psychological circumstances due to these serious illnesses. As we work tirelessly to provide the best care possible for the clients who enter our programs, there are thousands of individuals who are unable to receive the care they need.

Eating disorder treatment is ideally provided in phases. When first diagnosed, a person may need to be hospitalized for a time to be medically stabilized. A natural step-down from inpatient care is residential, which provides 24-hour care and programming in a residential setting. Following residential, the treatment team may recommend a partial hospitalization day treatment or intensive outpatient program as a bridge to strictly outpatient treatment. For some, insurance coverage ends once medical stabilization is reached. For others, inpatient and outpatient may be covered but other services are not. As a result, recovery may be difficult to achieve and sustain. Early, appropriate intervention is essential for lasting recovery. For patients who fall through the cracks, fighting an eating disorder becomes even more of an uphill battle. As a provider of residential treatment, Center for Discovery is very concerned that those who need treatment have access to it. If passed, the Anna Westin Act will clarify the 2008 Mental Health Parity Act to ensure coverage for residential treatment.

We are thrilled to stand with families, survivors, advocates, and legislators in a unified front to fight eating disorders and lobby for better treatment. Please consider joining us in the Nation’s Capital on October 27th and 28th for these historic, powerful events. As a constituent with a vote and a voice, you have the power to catalyze change. Center for Discovery is behind all of those who cannot speak for themselves as we work to bring essential treatment services to all those who need it so critically.

For more information about these events, or to register, please visit:

www.marchagainsted.com
www.eatingdisorderscoalition.org
www.centerfordiscovery.com 

 We look forward to seeing you in October!

At 14 you don’t expect to lose your life. Your parents don’t expect to lose their only daughter. Your little brother doesn’t expect to lose his only sibling before the age of 10. I remember being in 8th grade watching the Tracie Gold Lifetime movie on eating disorders thinking how weird it was, who would ever do that to themselves. One year later, I looked like I had cancer, and was slowly killing myself, as I had Anorexia Nervosa.

I remember when I battled my eating disorder it was the biggest secret I carried around. It was a secret my family had to hide as well. My community thought I had cancer, no one could suspect or believe an eating disorder. There were so many questions, so much misunderstanding, and it only isolated me more.  I am marching because it is time eating disorders are not in the shadows, it is time we bring to light the mental illness with the highest mortality rate. I survived my eating disorder, my family got to keep their daughter, their sister, and my community got to see the severity of all that an eating disorder is and what it can do.  No one thought, including myself that I would ever get an eating disorder but I did, and I almost lost my life, so I march because awareness matters, our lives matter, our family and friends lives matter, and I have the amazing support of C.O.P.E., the Community Outreach for the Prevention of Eating Disorders, a group of amazing individuals who are trying to change the world right in their own community and they inspire me. 

I think Margaret Mead says it best, “Never believe that a few caring people can’t change the world. For indeed that’s all who ever have.” If we have the potential to make a positive difference in this world by uniting together, the bigger question is: Why wouldn’t I march?

Thank you to my family, my community, to C.O.P.E., and to all the people who march every year.