“It’s painful for people to reflect on the past and see that they knew people were watching them and knew something was wrong but they were too scared to approach them,” said Bonnie Brennan, senior clinical director of adult services at Eating Recovery Center in Denver. “I’d rather the person be mad at me for getting it wrong than to risk not saying anything and they have a life-threatening illness,” she said.

“I would caution parents: You need to watch this film with your child, get educated yourself and be aware that this is one story,” Dr. Cabera said, noting the diversity and complexity of different cases of eating disorders.

The New York Times asked readers to share their experiences with eating disorders. In less than 48 hours, we received more than 1,200 responses. Some described daily struggles, other celebrated full recoveries, and many spoke of their hopes of helping others by sharing their stories.

Here are some of their responses, edited and condensed. Some readers who submitted comments requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject.

“She tried to explain how hard it was”

Anonymous, 42, Texas

As a parent, it was like being thrust back to the infancy stage in so many ways but with a heightened level of fear that you were failing at a parent’s primary responsibility — to keep your child alive. All the research, therapy, family therapy, doctors’ appointments, meal prep, and meal lessons (which was like having a second job) didn’t seem to matter. Because in the end, the difference between infancy and her being sick was one crucial factor — her own agency ... she had to want to fight, too. Fight with all her will everyday, every hour, every moment for success to happen. It’s a bitter lesson as a parent.

Lisa Gorove, 56, Virginia

Ms. Gorove’s daughter, Caitlin Piper Gorove-Funk, died in 2016 after battling anorexia nervosa for 10 years. “It’s an issue of an illness and a voice, it’s not a choice. That voice took a while to explain to other people, that Caitlin wasn’t doing this because she wanted to, it was that something had taken over. Her mind was consumed by the disease. She tried to explain how hard it was.”

“I held her and she died in my arms. I told her over and over and over again how much everybody loved her and that she could go. We did not have a funeral, we had a service that was beautiful on many levels. After her service, four people voluntarily went back to treatment.”