Anorexia Strategy: Family as Doctor

Erica Goode argues that parents could help their child overcome anorexia more than individual therapy. She claims that the disorder is not any one persons fault, and the family should work together to get rid of the illness. Goode developed this claim by first investigating new ways to help people overcome anorexia. Goode illustrates how Dr. James Lock uses this strategy in his own practice. He claims that food is the medicine and the medicine must be delivered. Lock claims that when you stop pressuring a child to eat, they start to eat by themselves. Dr. Katharine L. Loeb claims that parents were confused or unable to discover ways to make their child eat. She states that it does not matter how the child is helped; it matters that the child is helped. Lastly, the author provides a real life situation where this new strategy has worked. Erica Goode’s purpose is to show that family support is more helpful than therapists alone in order to overcome anorexia. This work is significant because the new method of helping people overcome anorexia could turn out to be a breakthrough. 

 

Goode, Erica. "Anorexia Strategy:Family as Doctor." nytimes.com. The New York Times Company, 11 Jun 2002. Web. 5 Oct 2012. <http://www.nytimes.com/2002/06/11/health/anorexia-strategy-family-as-doctor.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm>.