As someone who experienced severe anorexia between the ages of 14-16 and 11 hospital admissions, I have a fair bit of knowledge around what is helpful and what isn’t regarding treatment. I had 10 admissions at Princess Margaret Hospital for children, on the medical wards. This was an extremely unpleasant experience, having to be force fed and gain weight when that actually was quite traumatic, considering the nature of anorexia.
The situation with other eating disorder patients was deplorable. Again, because of the nature of anorexia, there was constant comparison in terms of how thin I was compared to all the other patients. I was 38 kilos when I initially got admitted to PMH, and by the 10th admission my weight had whittled down to 29 kilos. This constant thriving to be thinner and thinner, was definitely a side-effect of the relationship between the other eating disorder patients. The relationships were very negative, and not supportive by any means.
Add to that, the treatment by staff, only made the situation more unpleasant and even traumatic. Like with any mental illness, it is not by any means a choice. Eating disorders and all other mental illnesses are a disease. It is not something that anyone chooses.
But the treatment by the nursing staff did not show that they understood this truth. They were for the most part, very judgmental and rude. Whilst they didn’t exactly articulate their distaste, their actions and attitudes demonstrated this. There was a teenage ward at PMH, and there were a handful of staff there that were slightly more compassionate and non-judgmental. However, any of the other wards, held a sense of impatience and judgment. They had no idea how to deal with anorexic patients, and one day, on about my 9th admission, I was transferred to the surgical ward, due to lack of beds. The nursing staff on that ward – and one in particular, sat on the end of my bed waiting for me to eat my evening meal- and was extremely impatient and critical due to the fact that there was no way I was going to sit there and eat the hospital food – lasagne in particular. I was so distressed, that I ran away that night, from the hospital, and I pulled my feeding tube out on the side of the road, proceeded to a nearby restaurant where I called my family to pick me up. Fortunately, they came to my rescue, however their hearts were broken when they were to take me straight back to the ward for further treatment.
Like with any mental illness, people suffering need compassion, understanding, patience and above all else, a sense of empowerment. What I got from most of the nursing staff, was the complete opposite, and I guarantee I wouldn’t have run away that night had the staff been more humane and had kinder souls.
The recent article about Jenni Matters and her devastating treatment from nursing staff, is far too common. It’s just not talked about. And something needs to be done.
At this point in 2025, peer work has become a very important part of treatment, having someone who really understands to provide support is imperative. But aside from this, there really, truly, needs to be some staff training around eating disorders, including from eating disorder professionals, and those with a lived experience of eating disorders. There needs to be a change.
I will say however, that after this running away incident, my parents then decided to do something different… as my health continued to rapidly decline. They sent me to a private hospital, Hollywood Clinic, with a dedicated eating disorder program.
I have to point out just how different this experience was for me. The (majority) of nursing staff at Hollywood, demonstrated great levels of kindness and compassion. They were patient when they sat with us at mealtimes, they encouraged us, and ultimately believed in our recovery, which led to us feeling empowered. And like I said, this is exactly the sort of support we needed.
But public medical hospitals, desperately need to change, so we don’t see a repeat of what happened with Jenni. Lives are literally at stake, and the support we receive or don’t receive, will indeed affect our ability to move forward in our journey, or go backwards…
Read more about my journey of anorexia nervosa in my memoir Hope Inc, which is being released on January 14th.
Kate's Niche 