F.E.A.S.T. from the Inside
Laura Collins, Executive Director
My friend, Joan, lost her 28-year old daughter to anorexia last month. I am deeply saddened by this loss and rededicate myself to my work in honor of Erin and her family. The F.E.A.S.T. Board of Directors also offers condolences to the Riederer family.
This tragedy has me thinking a great deal about siblings. The other children in a family suffer so much when their brother or sister is ill: confusion, fear, loss, isolation, and resentment. Brothers and sisters must often sit to the side of family life in a crisis. Parents, often stretched to their limits by the demands of a loved one’s eating disorder, can be hampered in their ability to attend to siblings and other relationships. The costs to siblings must be factored into the losses this illness exacts and to the urgency of our interventions. Even if untouched personally by the illness a part of their childhood and relationships are lost. They pay a unique price, but not one that can necessarily be avoided.
I hope that families will be offered and receive help for siblings during eating disorder treatment: special outings, one-on-one time with parents, time with other trusted adults, distractions, and individual and family psychotherapy when needed. Siblings need special attention to how they are informed, empowered, and included in the treatment process. I believe this can and should be part of the clinical support for the family.
In cases of loss of life, or the permanent estrangement of the patient from family, siblings deserve a great deal of support and attention as well. Let’s honor the brothers and sisters who are affected by ED by acknowledging their special role, and injury. Let’s step forward to help the sisters and brothers: they need us, too.
Executive Director’s Recent Activities
F.E.A.S.T. News
- New position statement: Support for Reevaluation of Diagnostic Criteria for Eating Disorders in Children and Adolescents
- New Advisory Panel member: Beth Mayer, of MEDA
- New Celebrating Lives Lost page
- The Media Outreach Task Force successfully protested content on a Cochrane Review article, leading to deletion of an assertion that family conflict is a risk factor for the development of anorexia and unsubstantiated conclusions about family therapy. (Family Therapy for Anorexia Nervosa, Cochrane Review (2010), pp. 13-14.)
- The Media Outreach also successfully protested content on the About.com / A.D.A.M. website that referred to dysfunctional families and conflict. The site has been re-written and now includes the following sentence: “Although much has been written about the role of families and parenting as causes of eating disorders, there is no evidence supporting this claim.”
- New Moderator on the Mod Squad: Colleen, a longtime member of the Around the Dinner Table forum, recently joined the team. Colleen has been an inspiration to so many in the ATDT community in how she came to define “unconditional love.”
- Moderator retires: The forum said goodbye to Malia, one of the original developers and advisors for F.E.A.S.T. A graduation “party” was held online by the moderators in her honor although she was unable to attend! We used her virtual blender for virtual cool drinks. She is missed, but we congratulate her heartily and thank her profusely.
- Eating Disorders Sourcebook, a reference book for libraries and educators, asked F.E.A.S.T. for permission to re-print our “Resistance to Treatment” page.
- Hebrew translation of our Principles page, by volunteers Micah Winston and Revital Naor Ziv. Thank you so much, Micah and Revital!
- The inaugural Plate Drive fundraiser was a success. Over $1900 US was raised and 50 plates dedicated. Special thanks to Liana Mensh, our graphic designer, for creating and laying out unique plates for each donation!
- Regional Task Forces: if you live in the UK or Australia and did not receive an email about our new Task Forces in your area please contact us: info@FEAST-ED.org. The Task Forces will keep F.E.A.S.T. informed about local needs and resources to better serve those communities.
News from our Our Advisors
- Cynthia M. Bulik, Director of the UNC Eating Disorders Program announced that UNC Chapel Hill Assistant Clinical Professor Mae Lynn Reyes, PhD has received a K23 award from the U.S. NIMH titled “Engaging Latino Families in Eating Disorders Treatment.”
- Daniel Le Grange, with Eunice Chen, received a 3-year grant from the NIMH to develop family-based treatment for young adults (ages 18-25) with anorexia nervosa. The project began July 1, 2010.
- Susan Ringwood reports bringing two Beat Young Ambassadors to Rome, invited by the Italian Government to take part in a European conference on health and wellbeing where they “challenged the views we heard from the platform about parents being to blame and patients as manipulative liars."
- The MEDA National conference took place on April 30th and May 1st. Beth Mayer and MB Krohel hosted a luncheon for families (see below). The next conference is scheduled for May 20th and 21st, 2011. Beth Mayer will be speaking on "The complexities of Self-Disclosure” at the Harvard Medical School conference in December.
News from our Board and volunteers
- M.B. Krohel, Chair of our Medical Education Task Force, co-hosted a MEDA luncheon and staffed a F.E.A.S.T. exhibitor table in Massachusetts April 30.
- Together with Charlotte Bevan and Mel Stevenson, Fiona Bromelow began work on the FEAST UK task force which aims to promote the work of FEAST within a UK context, and to that end collaborated with b-eat (the leading UK eating disorders charity) on events linked with campaigning, quality standards and service provision.
- Therese Waterhous wrote the chapter on pediatric eating disorders for the American Dietetic Association, Pediatric Nutrition Practice Group (PNPG) Online Care Manual. This online manual is typically purchased by hospitals and other institutions and is heavily used by many health care practitioners.
Condolences to:
- The loving family of Monica, a 30-year old tragically lost to anorexia in March.
- The Riederer Family on the loss of Erin in June after many years of illness, at 28 years old.
Membership
At the conclusion of our first year as an official nonprofit we are 535 members including 12 Founding Members and 72 other paid members. Thank you for your support!
Upcoming F.E.A.S.T. Activities
Donations Needed
Donating to F.E.A.S.T. is a great way to help other families, and we promise we use your donations frugally. The forum, serving hundreds of families 24/7, costs only $20-40 (US) a month. Having an exhibit table at an eating disorder conference can cost $1200(US) a year. Our services and advocacy are free to all, and funded donation by donation by families like yours. Do we need you? YES.
Good news: donations are tax deductible in the U.S. in accordance with Internal Revenue Code section 501(c)(3).
THANK YOU FOR BEING A MEMBER OF F.E.A.S.T.!
F.E.A.S.T. (Families Empowered and Supporting Treatment of Eating Disorders)
P.O. Box 331, Warrenton VA 20188, US
1 (540) 227-8518
FEAST-ED.org