'Providing a light': Anorexia patient and psychiatrist-in-training hopes to transform mental health care

Eating disorders affect as many as a million Canadians, can be difficult to treat, and has the highest overall mortality rate of any mental illness. One patient is training to become a psychiatrist in hopes of transforming how eating disorders are treated.

She spent five weeks in the hospital, where therapy included forced feedings. They were “very, very traumatic experiences” that had a profoundly negative and lasting impact, she says.

After she was discharged, her care continued on an outpatient basis. Over many years, she saw numerous doctors, tried many different types of psychotherapy, counselling, medications, and treatment settings, but remained depressed, anxious, and sometimes even suicidal, and had another major hospital stay when she was 17. What worked for others was not working for her.

Eating disorders can be difficult to treat and are not as well-studied compared to other mental illnesses, yet affect as many as a million Canadians, according to the National Initiative for Eating Disorders (NIED) and Statistics Canada.

Because of the physical manifestation of the disorder, some estimates suggest 10 to 15 per cent die due to medical complications like heart disease -- the highest overall mortality rate of any mental illness, according to one study cited by NIED. The suicide rate among those with eating disorders is also high. And even more concerning is the increasing number of younger people at risk of developing an eating disorder, experts say.