If you look back on my blog posts over the last couple of years, you’ll notice that they were a bit thin on the ground for a while. That was because of the Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, etc which suddenly hit me about 27 months ago and which meant that I had to take a break from anything to do with eating disorders because I found it very triggering.

Thanks to the fourth set of therapy sessions (care of the NHS!), I seem to have finally come out the other end. I still have issues with anxiety, but am pretty much able to manage this using all the various CBT/mindfulness tools that I’ve learned along the way. Unfortunately I haven’t been able to fix the nightmares or sleep problems, which means that I do get sleepy during the daytime, but hopefully this will sort itself out before too long. Hopefully…

It’s all meant that I’ve gradually been able to ease myself back into the world of eating disorders. My therapist wondered whether this was going to be helpful for me or whether I ought to pursue a completely different path in “my life after Ben’s eating disorder”. But I seem to have drifted naturally back into the world of eating disorders, starting with saying “yes” to the invitation to speak at the SEDIG conference in two weeks and lately returning to the Around the Dinner Table forum to offer advice to other families of boys with eating disorders.

Oh, and I’ve been blogging here of course.

I’ve also been to see one of the senior staff at my son’s old school (yesterday) to discuss ways in which my experience might prove useful in assisting staff to identify the warning signs in boys with eating disorders and to share my experience of how helpful and supportive the school was when my son was sick with anorexia – what I found particularly helpful, etc. So very soon I’ll be putting together the bones of a talk for staff at the school.

And today I’m going to Sheffield to meet up with Ben and take him out for lunch. Not because I’m particularly worried about him or he needs to see me, but purely and simply because he’s left some stuff at home and needs me to take it down there! And, unlike the first two years at university, he is far too busy to bother coming home at weekends.

Having said this it’s always a good opportunity to keep an eye on him and check that he still eating properly!
(c) Eating disorders in boys: my teenage son’s recovery from anorexia. – Read entire story here.