Missouri Eating Disorder Advocacy Day 2013

Never have I felt so big, yet so small.

So important, but so insignificant.

The first people I spoke to when I arrived at the Missouri State Capitol were a mother, who had lost her son to Anorexia two years ago, and her daughter (his sister.)

Next a woman who had lost her daughter. She told me of a woman on the other side of the room that had also lost a daughter just a year ago.

So much sadness. So much passion.

I knew that Anorexia had a high death rate, but have been lucky enough to never see it first hand. It takes the idea of an eating disorder to a whole new level. If ever someone said it is just selfish behavior by girls that want to be skinny, this is proof otherwise. This disease is serious.

Last Thursday I participated in the 5th Annual Missouri Eating Disorder Advocacy Day.?My mom told me about it, as she is a pediatrician and Eating Disorder specialist, but since it got rescheduled I had to go on my own. I really didn?t know what to expect, but I was moved beyond belief. It was one of the most incredible experiences of my life.

I drove two hours to Jefferson City, Missouri?s capitol, and arrived in the rotunda a little before 10am. The building was bustling with men in suits and kids on field trips, but on the ground level I found a group gathering around rows of folding chairs. An employee confirmed that this was the Eating Disorder group, and while waiting to check in I began speaking to the people I mentioned above.

We wrote down our names, received our ?team packets?, and then took some time to write short postcards to our State Representatives. I sat down in a folding chair on my own, but luckily right near the women I had previously met, and began looking through the papers. It included lots of information about Eating Disorders, the statistics and medical consequences, and our purpose that day.

Missouri is in the process of passing two sets of bills. The first calls for an actuarial analysis of the cost of adding Eating Disorder coverage to Missouri insurance plans. The second would improve access to coverage for the 500,000 Missourians that will suffer from an Eating Disorder.

Right now, many Missouri health insurance plans don?t provide adequate coverage for Eating Disorders. They don?t pay for inpatient care long enough for it to be affective, they come up with their own qualifications for when someone is sick enough to be admitted to the hospital, and they don?t support complete care from nutritionists and therapists as well as a physician.

The number one reason people aren?t getting the treatment they need is cost.

I?ve heard it from my mother?s personal accounts as a pediatrician, I know from my own experience, and I have now heard it from Anorexia sufferers that have been in and out of treatment for years because coverage plans kick them out before they can make a full recovery. Complete Eating Disorder treatment needs to be covered by insurance. There is no reason people suffering from other diseases have that right, but people with Eating Disorders don?t.

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The day started with a few introductions and speeches. We heard from the organizer, from Dr. McCallum who is a leading professional in St. Louis, and then from Miss America 2008, Kirsten Haglund. Eating Disorder Awareness was one of her main causes and she continues to advocate.

Her speech was incredible. She is so well spoken and was truly inspiring as she shared her own story. I shared a small portion of it below and wish I had gotten more of it on video. She brought me to tears, which has never happened before in this context.

My favorite part is when she says that her eating disorder made her a shell of a person. It took away her life, her drive, and her passion. I relate to that so much. In many ways, I feel like I still haven?t gotten my entire self back. At that point I?d heard too much sadness for my eyes to stay dry.

As we were preparing to meet with our teams and speak to our Representatives, we heard some great news. The actuarial analysis bill was about to be passed in the Senate! That very day! We all went up to the galleries and listened as the State Senators announced their votes.

It passed 32-2!

It still needs to pass in the House and then the next bill that would actually change the insurance coverage should be discussed over the next year or so. We?re hoping that at next year?s advocacy day we can see it pass! The?goal for that day was to go as geographical teams, based on where in Missouri we lived, and talk to our representatives about why these bills are important.

We walked to the various offices, were able to pull a fair amount of the representatives out of the chambers to speak to us, and shared our stories. Having this congressmen ask us questions such as ?How long does it typically take to recover?? and ?How many people actually get eating disorders?? was so encouraging. I was happy to hear that they wanted to learn and happy to share my own struggles. That was when I felt big and important. All of the other participants were so thrilled to have a survivor there to show that adequate treatment really does work.?Telling them that it took years of seeing nutritionists and therapists, most of which was paid for out of pocket, gave them a tangible example.

Also with me was a psychiatrist, a girl still struggling, and a therapist. They were able to answer questions about treatment from different viewpoints and I felt like we really got our point across. Telling them that 30% of girls and 16% of boys in American high schools suffer from an eating disorder really hit home. Many of them have children.

After a few hours we had spoken to everyone on our list. We convened with others and heard about their successes. Some were even able to talk to one of the senators that voted against the actuarial analysis bill earlier that day! They said when they told him that Eating Disorders were NOT a choice, he started to understand. He said,??I had cancer and I didn?t choose that either.?

I drove home that day with a flame inside. I knew I was passionate about removing the stigma surrounding eating disorders and mental health ? it?s one of the main reasons I started this blog ? but I have never been able to use it on such a large scale. Passing these bills could make a huge difference in the lives of so many.

The day made me view Eating Disorders new a knew light. A few years removed from the depths of my Anorexia, it can be hard to remember what it felt like. How depressed I was, the internal battles I had with myself, and the screaming anxiety that filled my day to day life. Our society is obsessed with being thin and when we see girls shrinking in size it is easy to assume it?s all vanity.

Eating Disorders are not just about vanity.?

They may start that way, as a simple diet, but the disease isn?t superficial.

And I hope that through participating in this Advocacy Day I?ve helped the lawmakers in Missouri realize that.

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Source: http://fitting-it-all-in.com/eating-disorder-advocacy-day-201/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=eating-disorder-advocacy-day-201

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