Victim and Parents Talk About Fight Against Anorexia

By Nesita Kwan WMAQ/NBC News Channel

High school senior Brittany Goodrich is visiting colleges and weighing her choices, but the simple act of weighing herself casts a shadow over every decision she and her parents make.

"I would never say I'm anorexic," Goodrich said. "It's like someone who is afraid of spiders. Food freaks me out." Early in high school, Brittany wanted to drop a few pounds, but then she couldn't stop. She kept getting thinner and thinner and her behavior became more bizarre. She was down to 93 pounds at one point, and by then, her parents said it was an emergency.

"She could have literally dropped at any minute," said her dad.

Goodrich said she was paralyzed by fear.

"You're afraid to put anything in your body, it's like you're just sitting slowly watching yourself die -- it's miserable," said Goodrich.

For two years, the Goodriches struggled to find help, and finally, they turned to Dr. Daniel LeGrange's program at the University of Chicago that emphasizes family therapy -- not individual counseling.

"This approach relies heavily on getting the child to accept there is no way the parents are going to back off," LeGrange said.

Under this approach, the first task is to push the anorexic into gaining weight because talking therapy can't work when you're too hungry to think straight. The Goodriches said the first thing they learned is that the first thing an anorexic starves is their brain so they started constantly pushing food.

"You can sit for an hour and a half at the table with her to get her to eat something," said Mrs. Goodrich.

"Eventually, the personality takes over -- it's the eating disorder that's afraid of the food. It gets angry and yells and screams at my parents," said Goodrich.

Her parents said the more weight she gains, the more logical she thinks. The process is intense, time consuming and emotional, and LeGrange said not every family has the stamina for it. But the Goodriches did and now college is in Brittany's future.

She's reasonably confident that on her own, she'll be able to stick with an eating routine. But if not:

"I know if I call them up, they'll tell me what to do -- there's always that."

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