CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19) RESOURCE CENTER Read More
Add To Favorites

Eating disorders pose a dual challenge on Cape

Cape Cod Times - 7/31/2017

July 31--MASHPEE -- She summered on the Cape, but Kimberly Briggs, 50, put down her first true roots here when she attended Cape Cod Community College as a teenager in 1986. It was then that her health problems began.

"Girls were very cautious about the way they looked. They kind of thought that I should lose a little weight," she said. "I didn't need to. I've never been over 120 pounds. It all started and got out of hand."

Briggs, who lives in Mashpee, has suffered from bulimia and anorexia for more than 30 years. And despite her efforts, including stints at various treatment centers off-Cape, she has not recovered.

There are some resources here, but Cape Cod's location, along with other factors, pose significant challenges for those seeking treatment for eating disorders. Help may be on the horizon, with talk of a new treatment center opening here, but for now the options are limited.

"I came home to nothing," said Briggs, describing her stays at treatment centers in Florida and Vermont.

It's unclear how many people suffer from eating disorders on the Cape. Briggs said she doesn't personally know anyone else affected.

"But I recognize it all around me," she said.

At present, there are no treatment facilities on the Cape dedicated solely to eating disorders. Such facilities provide meals, intensive therapy and other services that are extremely valuable to people seeking to recover. The lack of facilities here poses financial and other problems for victims and their families.

Stacy Hostetter, a nurse from Falmouth, drove her then 11-year-old daughter to Walden Behavioral Care in Braintree, the closest treatment facility for eating disorders, every day last year.

Initially, Hostetter's daughter did in-patient care at Walden and stayed there overnight. But when she moved on to out-patient care, she had to return home every day after her treatment.

Hostetter was able to take off work to help her daughter, but not everyone has that option.

"A lot of people can't do the hard drive," she said. "Tons of kids have eating disorders, but there's not a ton of help."

The services available on Cape Cod, including therapists and nutritionists familiar with eating disorders, cannot provide meals or offer intensive treatment that eating disorder treatment centers like Walden do.

"The treatment is very intensive initially," Hostetter said. For example, her daughter had her meals prepared daily at Walden.

For those who do go away for treatment, services such as therapy, support groups and out-patient centers are needed to keep the recovery process on track.

"When you come home, you need a support group. Alcoholics have AA," Briggs said. "You can go away, but you are going to come home to nothing. You can't even get a psychologist or a therapist."

Hostetter decided to form her own group for Falmouth parents of children with eating disorders. Numbering about 10 people, they meet every other week to "share and offer support to each other," Hostetter said. "It's emotional support and also in way of what treatment is around and insurance issues."

Although the Cape lacks treatment centers dedicated solely to eating disorders, there are other options.

"If someone can connect to a practitioner that deals with eating disorders often, it can be a great gateway," said Stacey Richmond, nutrition therapist at Kind Eating in Yarmouth Port. "The challenge is (that) many private practices, depending on what eating disorders they work with, may only take a few clients at a time."

It's a growing problem," said nutritionist and dietitian Maggie Davis, the director of Live Nutrition Inc. in Brewster. "We're definitely seeing more people come in and more referrals from physicians."

Cape & Islands Behavioral Institute specializes in anxiety disorders, but treats eating disorders as well. They offer out-patient therapy, according to director Kristin Mulcahy.

"Right now we have a very intensive case," she said. "We're in constant communication with their physician and psychiatrist."

They also can be interim support for people coming out of intensive programs.

"There's a belief that there's no help or resources if you don't get connected to a provider right away," Richmond said. "As you can see there is a lot of help out there."

For overeaters, there's Overeaters Anonymous in Harwich. But Richmond said

the Cape needs more of such support groups for people with eating disorders, as well as higher-level care.

"Someone who is medically compromised has to go into Boston," she said. "My fantasy is a residential program on Cape Cod. It's prohibitive to drive to Braintree."

Therapy can also be expensive. Briggs said private practices she's spoken to in West Barnstable and Falmouth cost $250 per hour.

"I don't have that," she said.

Richmond acknowledges that finances can be a big hurdle.

Hospitals will treat some of the severe side effects of eating disorders, such as heart failure, which Briggs experienced this spring. "I owe them (Falmouth Hospital) my life," she said.

Long-standing prayers for an in-patient center on Cape Cod may finally get answered. Walden Behavioral Care plans to open a center on the Cape in the near future, according to the institute, although details were not available.

Mulcahy said Walden's presence would benefit the Cape community. Inpatient programs provide around-the-clock treatment, she said.

"They (clients) eat meals (there) and gradually transition," she said.

On July 14, Netflix released "To The Bone," a film starring Lily Collins and Keanu Reeves that depicts one girl's struggle with anorexia. Collins herself has battled eating disorders in real life, as has the film's director and screenwriter Marti Noxon. Almost immediately, people criticized "To The Bone" for glamorizing anorexia and its potential to trigger those who suffer from it and related disorders. But others praised the film for its highlighting the phenomena of eating disorders, which affect around 30 million Americans, according to the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders.

"It is an issue, not that opioids and everything else isn't," said Briggs on why she decided to tell her story to the media. "I don't want to live the rest of my life like this."

Follow Adam Lucente on Twitter: @adamlcct

___

(c)2017 Cape Cod Times, Hyannis, Mass.

Visit Cape Cod Times, Hyannis, Mass. at www.capecodtimes.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.