"...Emotions control me... make me hide in a safe place of silence.... my mind stays distant from what my heart feels. If I say it... it's real... so I say nothing. I can't touch it... if I did I would curl up or crumble. I may seem to be made by heart of stone.... but really just chalk... and I'm afraid to face the possibility that I could easily turn to dust..." –Lori
Anorexia is among the psychiatric conditions with the highest mortality rate, with an estimated 6% of anorexia victims dying from complications of the disease. The most common causes of death in people with anorexia are medical complications of the condition including cardiac arrest and electrolyte imbalances. Recovery is possible, but requires a significant amount of effort.
Some people experience a fluctuating pattern of weight gain followed by a relapse, while others experience a progressively deteriorating course of the illness over many years and still others never fully recover.
As with many other addictions, it takes a day-to-day effort to control the urge to relapse. Many individuals will require ongoing anorexia treatment over several years, and some may require treatment over their entire lifetime. Among anorexics, 50 percent regain normal weight and eating habits, 25 percent improve but have pronounced weight and/or eating habit problems and 25 percent are resistant to intervention.
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