On Wellbeing, Jack Hodgins has begun a 13-part series on Anorexia Nervosa. Anorexia has the highest fatality rate of any mental health condition and is characterised by a fear of being overweight.
In the first instalment Jack talks with internationally renowned eating disorder expert Dr. Judith Brisman. Dr Brisman is the co-author of Surviving an Eating Disorder which, when it was first released in 1988, was the first book to offer effective advice for families and friends of those with eating disorders.
In the second episode, Jack talks with Prof. Isabel Krug, a senior lecturer in clinical psychology, and leads the MSPS Eating Disorder Lab based at the University of Melbourne.
On the third edition pf our series on anorexia we talk with Dr Walter Kaye, Executive Director of the Eating Disorders Center for Treatment and Research, University of California San Diego. Dr. Kaye’s research seeks to understand why individuals develop eating disorders and use what is learned to develop more effective treatments.
On the fourth edition of our series on anorexia we are talking with Cherry Boone O’Neill. Cherry grew up in the public eye being the daughter of American singer Pat Boon and she regularly performed with the Boone Family. During her early teenage years in the early 1970s Cherry developed anorexia.
Kelsey Osgood started developing anorexia when she was 14 and was first hospitalised for it at 15. Her battle with anorexia would be decade long and would consist of three lengthy hospitalisations. After her recovery she began writing her story down, the result being her 2013 book How to Disappear Completely: On Modern Anorexia. The book set out not to be like many of the Anorexia memoirs that came out during the ’90’s and early 2000s that romanticised the condition.
Brittany Burgunder has recovered from two eating disorders – anorexia and binge eating – and in 2016 published her book Safety in Numbers: From 56 to 221 Pounds, My Battle with Eating Disorders. Today Brittany is a Certified Professional Life Coach and eating disorder specialist.
Christine Jap started experiencing anorexia at age twelve, only recovering recently in 2017 while attending university. Today Christine is the PR officer for The Elephant In The Room Foundation, a charity that aims to improve the lives of individuals with Anorexia Nervosa.
Anorexia is seen to be a mental health condition that effects mostly females, this edition covers the important perspective of male anorexia. David Chawner, comedian and mental health advocate, started developing anorexia during puberty to keep out unwanted emotions that come along with puberty.
Following her daughter’s recovery, Veronica Luccioni founded The Elephant in the Room Foundation, a charity that aims to improve the lives of individuals with anorexia nervosa. Veronica shares her perspective as a mother having a child with anorexia, and how she went about helping her daughter with her anorexia.
On this edition we hear from Katherine Schultz, a photographer who has a sister with anorexia. Katherine’s perspective as a sibling of someone with anorexia is a rarely heard.
Adi Barkan, an activist fighting against anorexia in the fashion industry. Anorexia is prevalent in the modelling industry and Adi has seen it happen firsthand. Adi has been a photographer in the fashion industry since the 1980s, and noticed that it was with the introduction of thin models like Kate Moss in the 1990s that everything changed.
During lockdown, author and psychotherapist Matthew Campling released his book “Diary of a Male Anorexic” which covers his journey with the condition and also his recovery from it.
Having gone through her own anorexia journey, Carolyn became a psychotherapist in 1979. She is considered a pioneer in the field. In 1996, she founded the first licensed eating disorder treatment centre in a residential home setting.