Story
Anyone who has experienced an eating disorder themselves, or known someone who has, will be aware of what a terrible disease it can be. A once happy and outgoing child can turn introverted and desperately unhappy in a short time, and the implications for their growing body and mind are enormous.
Eating Disorders Kill.
We are trying to raise money to help a beautiful soul get treatment for her Eating Disorder in Algeria. Sabrina has suffered from her Eating Disorder for 30 years now. She has been hospitalised number of times for fever, stomach issues and acute dehydration. Few months back we almost lost Sabrina to the evils of Anorexia. She was in hospital fighting for her life and was put on feeding tube. Our community came together and after weeks of prayers Sabrina started to pull through. The hospital did not have the facility to treat her for her Eating Disorder, so as she stabilised she was sent home with instructions to eat. Sabrina has been part of our community for a year now, (War against Eating Disorder). To have her back among us is truly a miracle of Allah and each day she is with us , we cherish her presence.
This illness is not Sabrina’s fault. She has suffered in silence for over 30 years now. She’s not been able to work because of her illness. Her parents found her illness very distressing and she had to move out of her family home with her married sister. Her current BMI is very low, here in UK such BMI is Red Alert and a person is immediately hospitalised. 30 years is a very long period to suffer without any treatment. We want to give Sabrina hope, we want her to get treatment. Treatment for Eating Disorder is a linear process, you never know when a miracle will happen, what will work and when a person will pull through.
Professionals say that early treatment of eating disorders is best and can avoid many issues.
Your donation will help Sabrina to seek further treatment for her eating disorder, purchase vitamins and supplements to help her restore her low weight and see a nutritionist or a councillor. £500 is very little, please keep in mind that on average, a month of residential treatment costs $30,000 USD. For patients with eating disorders, residential treatment is anywhere between two weeks to a year. The recovery period for anorexia nervosa is six to eight years.
Most people do not have $30,000 around and many people struggling with illness like eating disorders are in a stressful financial situation, like Sabrina is.
Sabrina is in a war with her illness and we want her to win this war.
Sabrina has spoken about her struggles on our website, you can read more by clicking on the links below
https://waragainsteatingdisorder.com/2020/07/03/guest-post-sabs-story/
Background
Born in Algeria, Sabrina grew up in an emotionally abusive environment. As a child she was taunted over her weight and faced neglect from her immediate family.
She grew up with low confidence, overwhelming feelings of distress, fear and helplessness.
Sabrina believed that losing weight would raise her feelings of self-worth, she’ll be accepted by her family. There’s a lot of changes that come with losing a drastic amount of weight. They’re just as much emotional as they are physical and they affect every aspect of your life. From daily interactions, relationships to hard realizations. The journey of weight loss turned into Anorexia.
Eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa are a serious form of mental illness. Anorexia nervosa is where sufferers refuse or restrict food and have a distorted image of their bodies. Bulimia involves binge-eating and vomiting.
Sabrina's health began to deteriorate and she had to be admitted to hospital and was institutionalised number of times which put a huge strain on the family .
Lack of awareness and treatment led to Sabrina being stuck in cycle of Eating Disorder for years.
Even to this day Sabrina has failed to get an official diagnosis.
It took several years for Sabrina learned to how to love and accept herself, and she acknowledges the barriers our culture has, barriers which damage and shame women.
Society gives us the message that we are not okay as we are, they make us believe that if we look certain way, we will be successful. It’s hard to recognize these messages because it’s the cultural water we swim in, which makes us believe it’s the truth.
She is still struggling and is at a very unhealthy weight she struggles with what she sees in the mirror and with voices telling her to stop eating. But she wants to live now, and wants to recover.
Please help her . Sabrina deserves to live a life free from her Eating Disorder.
