That sounds like a similar situation to what I did to myself for 3 years in late high school and early college 2004-2007. I got down to about 5'6'' 95# in early 2006 before I decided that it needed to stop. For me, I even with counseling and a pretty good knowledge of sports nutrition (heck, I took a class on it before I became anorexic, I knew better), etc I did not improve until I decided that I needed to gain weight. As your typical type A triathlete, what it took was a change in "goal". While I was anorexic, my "goal" was to control my eating habits. I perceived myself as lacking self control and prone to gluttony (not actually true), so I gradually cut my meals back and made up all these rules for myself about when and what I could eat. Most of these rules happen to be the basics of losing weight for an endurance athlete (no refined sugars except during and immediately after exercise, the only meal that I didn't allow myself to skip was breakfast, snack on fruit and veggies, etc), its just that at 115 and dropping, I didn't need to lose weight. It was never about weight or body image. It isn't for most anorexics. It was about control. It was also about attention - I was going through depression too and was incredibly lonely. I tried to hide my weight loss, but I also secretly wanted people to notice and start caring. Eventually, and with a bit of help, but it was myself and my decision in the end, I was able to reverse it. I had already been doing triathlons since the middle of high school and part of what helped me reverse the decision was my poor fitness level. I enjoy the positive attention that I get for great races much more than the occasional pity I got when I was really skinny. I still tend to be a control freak, but I've changed my "goal" to eating optimally for my triathlon performance. Recovery has been really gradual, but I think that I finally have the hang of eating properly. For me its the depression that seems to be more chronic and harder to lick.
Looking back, I can track the stage of the anorexia based on my triathlon performances and my gpa. 2003 was my first year in triathlon. The onset of depression/anorexia was pretty gradual, but I'd date it to about the beginning of 2004. I did my first olympic distance in 2005, a 2:32. That winter of 05/06 it it its worst with my lowest weight in 2/2006. My recovery really started around 6/06 but the damage was done and my oly in 2006 was a 2:40. I had a short relapse 10-11/06 but caught it before my weight went below 105. I then transfered to a different school in 1/07, where I haven't had a bad phase with the anorexia longer than a few days and not many of them. I finally was healthy enough to train properly, consistently, and stay healthy in 1/07 and this summer my oly was a 2:24.
It won't be easy to find the right thing that will hit home and start recovery in your friends daughter. Talking to a counselor will help to some extent, but its no magic bullet. In the end it will be her decision whether she want to begin recovery. I can't say how to really intervene because no one really did that for me. I was in a single room in an quiet dorm and no one noticed if I didn't come out of my room for a week, and, at a huge school, the profs didn't notice when I never went to class. I guess my intervention was when my mom got worried about academic problems (and my health) and eventually forced me to see a dean and a counselor. I ended up dropping most of classes (and totally botching a total of 4 semester forcing me to take an extra year to graduate), but I continued to get worse for almost 6 months before I decided to recover. I eventually realized how much I was throwing away by sitting in my room and wasting away while at one of the most prestigious schools in the country and nearly dropping out of school. I don't regret transferring to a smaller school, it was definitely for the better, but there are times when I really wish I could have a "do-over" .
PM me if you want to know anything else... I'm happy to talk -- its easier to get out of when you catch it early.
"When the going gets tough, get going!"
Looking back, I can track the stage of the anorexia based on my triathlon performances and my gpa. 2003 was my first year in triathlon. The onset of depression/anorexia was pretty gradual, but I'd date it to about the beginning of 2004. I did my first olympic distance in 2005, a 2:32. That winter of 05/06 it it its worst with my lowest weight in 2/2006. My recovery really started around 6/06 but the damage was done and my oly in 2006 was a 2:40. I had a short relapse 10-11/06 but caught it before my weight went below 105. I then transfered to a different school in 1/07, where I haven't had a bad phase with the anorexia longer than a few days and not many of them. I finally was healthy enough to train properly, consistently, and stay healthy in 1/07 and this summer my oly was a 2:24.
It won't be easy to find the right thing that will hit home and start recovery in your friends daughter. Talking to a counselor will help to some extent, but its no magic bullet. In the end it will be her decision whether she want to begin recovery. I can't say how to really intervene because no one really did that for me. I was in a single room in an quiet dorm and no one noticed if I didn't come out of my room for a week, and, at a huge school, the profs didn't notice when I never went to class. I guess my intervention was when my mom got worried about academic problems (and my health) and eventually forced me to see a dean and a counselor. I ended up dropping most of classes (and totally botching a total of 4 semester forcing me to take an extra year to graduate), but I continued to get worse for almost 6 months before I decided to recover. I eventually realized how much I was throwing away by sitting in my room and wasting away while at one of the most prestigious schools in the country and nearly dropping out of school. I don't regret transferring to a smaller school, it was definitely for the better, but there are times when I really wish I could have a "do-over" .
PM me if you want to know anything else... I'm happy to talk -- its easier to get out of when you catch it early.
"When the going gets tough, get going!"