KAWARTHA LAKES – Michelle Mackey was 16 years old, doing well in school and had just started modelling. From the outside looking in she had everything. But on the inside, she knew something was very wrong.
“I started wearing baggy clothes to hide the weight loss, it got to the point where I was so thin, I knew I was going to die if I didn’t do something and I didn’t want to die.” Mackey says.
Mackey was later diagnosed with an Eating Disorder (ED) called Anorexia Nervosa. According to the Canadian Mental health Association when someone has an eating disorder, their weight is the prime focus of their life. Their all-consuming preoccupation with calories, grams of fat, exercise and weight allows them to displace the painful emotions or situations that are at the heart of the problem and gives them a false sense of being in control.
Mackey says that’s exactly what she experienced.
“I didn’t know what was happening; I was in the midst of the high school year ending, trying to find out what I wanted to do for my job, I had pressure in school, and it felt so overwhelming,” Mackey explained. “I was modelling at the time and I was told to lose a couple of inches, so I started working out and I lost a couple of pounds. I think what happened is that with all of these external pressures I was feeling that I started to develop a lot of anxiety and I started using food and exercise as a way to control it.”
Approximately one million Canadians meet the diagnostic criteria for an Eating Disorder. There are three main types of eating disorders: anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge-eating disorder. Eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of any mental illness, between 18-20% per cent according to statistics published in a resource book called, ‘What we know about eating disorders: facts and statistics’. According to statistics from Hopewell Canada, 10 per cent of individuals with Anorexia Nervosa will die within 10 years of the onset of the disorder.
In Kawartha Lakes and Peterborough, the number of people seeking treatment for Eating Disorders has increased more than 13 per cent in the last year. From April 2018 to March 2019, the Eating Disorders Clinic at Peterborough Regional Health Centre (PRHC) saw a total of 227 patients. Patients in the area are accepted by referral from primary care providers, pediatricians, and parents. Adults may also self-refer. In the two years previous to that, the clinic saw 200 patients per year, each year. It’s unclear what is contributing to the increase.
The Eating Disorders program at PRHC provides outpatient services for both adults and youth who have eating disorders – primarily anorexia nervosa, bulimia, and binge eating disorder. The program is supported by a multidisciplinary team that includes a Nurse Practitioner (NP), Registered Social Worker (RSW), and a Registered Dietitian (RD) to support various aspects of care according to each patient’s individual needs according to hospital officials.
Mackey says she was cold all the time, felt lightheaded, her hair started falling out and she suffered from aching bones. She googled her symptoms and was shocked at what she found.
“I will never forget it, this diagram came up of a body and there were all these little arrows that pointed to your brain and your heart and these were the symptoms of anorexia nervosa and how they affect the corresponding parts of the body and I had every single one of them and in that moment I knew I had anorexia.”
She says being able to put a name to what was going on with her didn’t help her; it actually made the situation worse.
“I knew something was wrong and I knew what was happening to me wasn’t right, but now it was a secret that I couldn’t tell anyone and that made everything worse,” she said.
Mackey says she was sitting on the porch one day at home with her mom when she finally broke down and admitted she had a problem.
“She basically broke down and said she knew, but she was trying to wait until I was ready to tell her,” Mackey recalled. “We cried for a really long time and then my parents jumped into action and put me into therapy.”
The Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) says both Mackey and her parents did the right thing.
“If you want to understand and support someone living with an eating disorder, you need to look beyond the food,” Tanya Kowalenko, CMHA told Kawartha 411 News. “While the eating behaviours are concerning and sometimes life threatening, they serve a purpose for that person. These behaviours are often a way to deal with painful emotional experiences that feel too overwhelming to face,” she continued. “Taking away that coping behaviour without supporting the individual to deal with the underlying psychological issues, is a recipe for relapse. They need support, both nutritionally and psychologically (and often medically), to be able to face life in a new and ultimately more fulfilling way. This takes a tremendous amount of courage.”
Courage and strength according to Mackey.
“This disease does not define you; this is a part of you temporarily, but it does not define you,” Mackey said. “Don’t give up, never give up. “It doesn’t have a right to take your life away.”
It took seven years for Mackey to recover from Anoriexia but she says it will be a life long struggle.
“Anorexia is one of those things that a lot of people find stays with them forever,” she said. “For me what recovery meant was that I wasn’t preoccupied with food, I felt really positive about my body, and I could live my life again.”
CMHA has some tips for parents and family members on preventing eating disorders:
Create a climate of size and body acceptance
Model a healthy lifestyle
Develop and model healthy coping strategies
Provide positive feedback on qualities other than physical appearance
Avoid labelling food good or bad
Do not make jokes that make fun of body size
Criticize diet and thin-ideal culture
Emphasize positive aspects of healthy eating
Don’t use food as reward or punishment
Make dinner time enjoyable and peaceful
Avoid complaining about your body in front of kids – don’t talk about calories, diets and weight
The key to success for Mackey was finding the right therapist. After a number of tries she says she finally clicked with one and it made all the difference.
“That’s one thing people who are suffering really need to understand,” she said. “If one therapist doesn’t work for you it’s not the end, there are others, keep trying.”
Mackey went on to work at the Weather Network as video journalist and is now a broadcaster working at 680 News in Toronto. She has some advice for anyone trying to overcome an ED.
“It will be the hardest battle of your life to get through this, but once you get through it you will be a stronger person and able to help others who are suffering,” she said. “It gets better, hold on to hope.”
You can find more info and get help here: https://nedic.ca/health-promotion-prevention/
For more information on the Eating Disorders Program at PRHC click here:https://www.prhc.on.ca/cms/eating-disorder-program of call the Women’s Health Care Centre at 705-743-4132 or 1-800-419-3111 to access services for adults.
Contact the Family and Youth Clinic at 705-876-5114 for information about services for young people.
