Eating Disorders Are Deadly

The recent death of a thin, young actress, Brittany Murphy (Across The Hall; Sin City; Girl, Interrupted), and speculation about what caused her death has drawn more attention to the dangers of eating disorders.  The 32 year old actress has been thin for many years, and was known to struggle with her weight.  Dr. Dustin Ballard wrote earlier this month, “Murphy was skinny, one look at the tabloid photos makes that clear, but was she anorexic?  The results of her autopsy are pending but, realistically, we may never have a definitive answer to that question.”  We may never know if Brittany Murphy had anorexia nervosa, but if her BMI at death was higher than 17.4 then we can know she definitely was not anorexic at the time of her death.  That doesn’t mean she wasn’t living with another eating disorder though.

She always denied having an eating disorder, but due to the reports and rumours about her conduct on set and her lifestyle (“too many drugs and too little food”) lead me to believe she most likely did live with an eating disorder for many years.  I believe it played a role in her premature death from cardiac arrest, although she also had a genetic heart murmur and used drugs.  Most likely a combination of these factors caused her death, but it certainly highlights the deadly dangers of eating disorders.

Anorexia is the deadliest mental illness, with a death rate of approximately 20%.  You don’t have to be super skinny to die from an eating disorder though.  Someone suffering with ED-NOS may have a healthy body weight but a severely damaged liver from purging, a weak and shrunken heart from restricting, a deadly electrolyte imbalance, damaged kidneys, etc, even though they may appear healthy to the casual observer.  Most anorexics actually die from suicide rather than starvation, and depression is a common and serious complication with all eating disorders.  All persons with eating disorders are at very high risk.

Dr. Dustin Ballard closed his article about the dangers of anorexia and the death of the 32 year old actress, “So, if indeed Brittany Murphy suffered from anorexia, she likely had suffered for years and reached an age at which successful intervention would have been very tricky. Take a moment to consider that and whether there is someone you can help now – before it is too late.”  I can’t help but pause at that statement and really think about my own life, because I’m two years older than Brittany Murphy was… does that mean it’s too late for me?  It very likely could, as I am resistant to recovery and terrified of gaining weight.