What The Media Missed In The Rachel Farrokh Pleading Anorexic Story

While sitting in treatment planning at the eating disorder hospital where I work, I pulled up Yahoo. Images of the frail and bony Rachael Farrokh popped up on my screen.

*Image from Google Images

I turned the screen to show some of the doctors I work with. (Here are just two of the articles, but please note …the images are very triggering. I will not post them here.)

CNN Article

Yahoo Article

All of them, just shook their heads.

While all of us can most likely agree that it is fantastic she is reaching out for help, those of us who work in the field and have struggled with the disease know there is more to this story than is being told.

The media jumps on these sensationalized stories of shock and awe. Look at how low a weight she is, look at her bones, and how could she get like that? Ohhh ahhh shock and awe.

Right?

1. The images are highly triggering to those struggling.

What they don’t realize is by promoting this overly thin image of this woman is that those struggling who aren’t uber thin take it as a message that they don’t need help. “I am not that sick!” They say. “I don’t look like that!”

Of course this doesn’t make sense in rational thought, but in the world of eating disorders it is a common statement I hear every day. Patients seeing images such as this and thinking, “Oh see, I don’t look like that. I don’t need help.”

While anorexia and severe anorexia can eventually look like Rachael, it only feeds this misconception you can tell who has an eating disorder by simply looking at them. But this is not always the case. With anorexia often you can tell, but there are many other eating disorders that people need treatment for and often times you cannot tell if someone has an eating disorder.

Eating disorders are not solely about weight. They are about how body weight and image affect a person’s self-worth. They are about distorted body images and obsessive thoughts about how to become thinner or avoid weight gain. People of normal weight with eating disorders may actually suffer more, because they don’t receive recognition of their illness from others.” –ANAD Dismantling the Common Myths of Eating Disorders

2. She reports treatment centers won’t admit her?

The other piece I believe the media was mis-informed about is this idea that treatment centers won’t take her because of her low weight. We have never NOT admitted someone because their weight was too low or too high. Now, if they have medical complications we do put them on a monitored unit, sometimes even ICU before coming in for inpatient, but to think this woman has been struggling for ten years and has never received help and/or can’t now…it seems very very fishy to me.

3. Her husband quit his job?

And why did her husband quit his job to take care of her? This woman needs to be in the care of professionals. If she was at home using cocaine every day her husband wouldn’t quit his job to be home and watch her do drugs.

To think her eating disorder got to this level without help, seems a bit like denial and co-dependency to me.

4. Why the need for money?

Is she raising money because she doesn’t have insurance? Or does she have insurance? If so,then why would she need the money? Why aren’t we told this? She would be deemed medically unstable and insurance companies cover that kind of treatment.

5. Why not legal guardianship?

Why hasn’t someone stepped in as a legal guardian? Where is her family? At such a low weight her brain is not functioning properly and so someone else should be in charge of the logistics regarding her care. Where is that information?

6. Where is the truth?

I think the truth of this story is somewhere in the middle. I am guessing she has been in treatment and hasn’t been willing to follow recommendations, or has left too early, or has refused to be admitted. And she reports she was administered 40lbs of fluid in one day??? I don’t buy it.

There is way more to this story than the media is telling us. The truth is, the media feeds off of of these sensationalized stories. Because it is shocking to see her all skin and bones. To me this story feels a lot like the commercials you see on TV where the dogs are in kennels and their sad eyes are looking up at you. You can’t help but be moved and motivated to take action.

I find it frustrating that the media is preying on our emotions to give money, without the full story.

Don’t get me wrong… I am happy this woman is going to receive treatment. I hope she can find the beautiful life on the other side of recovery. I have been where she is, not at that low of a weight, but at rock bottom, I am not in any way criticizing her. I am criticizing the media. For not offering the full story, all the REAL details about what is going on with this woman, because I know we aren’t receiving the full story.

Her road to recovery is going to be long, but it is possible she can receive wonderful care. Eating disorders are not a choice, but recovery is and I am excited that she is willing to make that choice.

There are places out there that absolutely can handle this and would be more than happy to do so. I hope only that she is willing to stay on the road to recovery, and that the media would refrain from jumping so soon on these stories without all of the facts.

xo

Lee