Living with "atypical anorexia"

Brut America

You can have anorexia no matter your body size. Some experts call it "atypical anorexia," and it's more common than you think …

Transcript

00:00My heart didn't care what size body I was, the restriction was causing damage to my heart,

00:04even though I live in a body that people would look at and say, how do you have anorexia?

00:11Anorexia can affect people of all body sizes, but for people living in larger bodies,

00:16this diagnosis is often overlooked. Sharon Maxwell struggled with an eating disorder

00:21for nearly 20 years before being diagnosed with anorexia.

00:25Living in a fat body since I was a child, my body was the central focus of what was

00:34wrong with me and what needed to be fixed. And because of that, I was put on diets at a young

00:40age and my disordered eating patterns began at the age of seven. I was diagnosed with an

00:46eating disorder at the age of 26. And I was completely shocked with the diagnosis because

00:53the only thing I thought I had around food was a self-control problem as most fat people are told

01:01in this society. Anorexia that affects people with a weight within or above the normal range

01:07is medically defined as atypical anorexia. The title atypical anorexia is simply adding

01:14more stigma to those living in higher weight bodies. And it is making it seem as though their

01:22eating disorder is not as valid or as deserving of treatment and care. This type of anorexia has

01:28the same physical symptoms and psychological symptoms as anorexia nervosa except for the

01:34underweight criteria. And it's more common than you think. 25 to 40 percent of patients in inpatient

01:40units of specialized eating disorder programs are suffering from atypical anorexia. The reality is

01:46as research is showing us now that atypical anorexia is far more common than what we

01:52stereotypically picture and think of the emaciated thin young white girl. It took Maxwell some time

01:58to come to terms with her own diagnosis. I had like a visceral reaction towards my therapist

02:05and she kind of chuckled and then she was like Sharon you didn't know that you have anorexia?

02:10And I was like I don't have anorexia. Like what are you talking about? Just because of the stigma

02:16in this society around fat people and the illnesses they can or cannot have and

02:23I was so bought into it that I did not yeah I argued hardcore with my therapist about it. Once

02:29Maxwell started treatment she realized how much her eating disorder had affected her health. I

02:35lost my period for almost 10 years. I personally had orthostatic vitals so I would get dizzy,

02:45I would faint, I would pass out. When I go from sitting to standing there's a drop in

02:52blood pressure and increase in heart rate and so I also had a lot of like heart palpitations.

02:58According to research people suffering from atypical anorexia experience greater delays

03:03in receiving care. Our medical community at large is ill-educated on eating disorders and most

03:11primary care physicians don't even know all the complications that come with eating disorders

03:16and they don't know what to test for. Maxwell says she experienced anti-fat bias herself

03:23in treatment and while dealing with her health insurance. Seeking treatment as a fat person in

03:30recovery is challenging because of our health care system and because insurance often denies

03:35fat folks care because they look at BMI which is not an indicator of health but they look at that

03:41and then they put a blanket statement that you don't deserve treatment. The first residential I

03:46went to I was there for 27 hours and in that 27 hours I was admitted to residential. I was stepped

03:54down to php because of insurance denying residential because of my body size even though I was fainting

04:01I was in danger of refeeding syndrome because my intake was so low it needed the medical

04:07supervision and had these medical complications going on insurance didn't care and they

04:14automatically gave me the boot. At a different facility Maxwell says she was treated differently

04:19than patients with smaller bodies. Immediately as a fat person I was placed on what they would

04:26call a maintenance meal plan and so when I went to go plate food I was told I could only have some

04:33things and not others and I was someone with anorexia needs to be medically and nutritionally

04:39rehabilitated but I was not. Now in recovery Maxwell is working as a weight inclusive consultant to

04:45change public perceptions about eating disorders and who they affect. For those of you recovering

04:50from any eating disorder in a fat body I just want to say that first and foremost your body is

04:58not wrong. Secondly you deserve adequate care. I am actively still seeing an eating disorder

05:06slash trauma therapist weekly and a dietician and I am working through

05:13so much in my recovery and I feel like I'm in a very stable place in my recovery

05:18and I'm grateful for that but again it takes time to deconstruct from all of these beliefs

05:25that we have as a society and when trauma is coupled with that it makes it even a little bit

05:30harder but I have a great team and I also am just like I've put in the work and I'm proud of

05:37myself for how far I've come.

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