So K (for those of you who have never heard of her she’s a really close friend of mine that I met about a year ago over Discord) has been having some problems. This has been persisting for a while but I had been trying to help. I’ve just run out of ways to help. I suppose I should explain the problem itself. She’s avoiding eating at any chance she gets. It’s gotten to where she wouldn’t eat for a day or two at a time, but that’s been a bit less common recently. I haven’t been told much as to why but she says that there’s a comfort to it. I believe it was something about having some sort of control as well. She’s also confirmed that she does want to lose weight (she’s very thin already) and has compared herself to others many times. She said she’d eat if she could get all the same comforts elsewhere but the way she put it wasn’t very believable. My biggest struggle in helping her is understanding what, exactly, I’m trying to help her with. She’s told me to research it but I don’t know what I’d be researching since she hasn’t been formally diagnosed with anything. She won’t, under any circumstances, go to anyone about it. If anyone has any advice as to how to help or to help me understand what she’s going through, let me know. I do have so more information so feel free to ask questions if something was unclear.
Edit/Update: I talked to one of her friends and she’s noticed her eating problems as well. She’s going to talk to her about it on Wednesday. I really hope all goes well.
Hi, I can’t give the best advice as I don’t have close friends and stuff but my advice would be maybe (I can’t remember if you said you’ve met her in real life or not) ask her to tell one of her real life friends about it. Not ask for help, but give the same amount of information that she gave you. That way, that friend can bring up the topic with someone close to the girl or maybe speaking to her in person/with voice would make her consider more ^^
Thanks for your reply @Ugh. To clarify I haven’t met her in real life, and the closest I can get to her telling one of her friends is by telling them myself (I’ve met a fair amount of her friend group) but I feel like she’d really be upset with me if I did that. I’ll try to go to one of them about it, I believe they’ve noticed it in person so that helps I guess.
Hi friend. It’s been a week since you posted this and I am just checking in on you. How are things going with your friend? Is she doing any better? I know sometimes it can be hard knowing how to help a friend. So the best thing we can do is offer them love, patience and understanding. Maybe some resources to places that they can turn to, to help get better. I hope and pray that your friend finds healing and balance.
She actually delivered me some good news no more than a couple hours ago. She’s feeling a lot more comfortable talking to her counselor so I’m feeling very optimistic about things getting a little better. I’ll still be there for her, though I’m hoping that she can go to someone who can actually make something happen.
You really are a good friend to her. I just wanted to say that I respect and admire the amount of care you have for her, also her well-being. You’re awesome.
Reaching out when you’re struggling with eating disorders is a very important step. I’m so glad to hear that she feels more comfortable with her counselor. Hopefully it will be helpful to her also on this matter.
