Newspapers are dubbing it ‘The Most Dangerous Eating Disorder You’ve Never Heard of’, a disorder which preys exclusively on the already ill. Diabulimia may be the most dangerous eating disorder that most of us have never, ever come across.
Megan Davison, a 27-year-old type-one diabetic, died on August 4th, 2017. She committed suicide, hanging herself after being sectioned and diagnosed with diabulimia, a little-known eating disorder that preys exclusively on type-one diabetics, of whom have to inject themselves with insulin after eating carbohydrates. Those that develop diabulimia do so by avoiding injecting their insulin after consuming carbohydrates, and, as a consequence of such, gain no weight. This, however, is extremely dangerous.
Restricting insulin, although leading to weight loss, can also lead to the damage of major organs including the kidney and liver, and damage to your eyes and nervous system. It’s extremely risky, and, in cases of diabulimia, the death rate is 34.8%
The eating disorder, acknowledged as such by medical professionals though not by medical records or books, is rare, and as such, there is only one out-patient clinic within the entirety of the U.K. that is well-equiped to aid in patient’s recovery from the illness.
In Megan’s suicide note, which has only just been released to the public, she details how she was dealt with after being sectioned and how when medical professionals couldn’t understand how her insulin doses worked, simply handed the insulin pen back to her. She said it was the “the equivalent of giving an alcoholic a bottle of vodka” or “a bulimic a bottle of laxatives”.
While Megan’s death has brought awareness to the illness and probed many people to look into the illness itself and how they can assist if they believe that a friend or relative is suffering from the eating disorder, it has also highlighted the fact that those who we expect to care for our sick, whether physically or mentally ill, still are not entirely aware of how to deal with situations and illnesses such as diabulimia.
The fact that mental health professionals could not figure out insulin doses and handed the control of that back to somebody who was, quite evidently, out of control in regards to restricting their insulin, shows a huge flaw in the NHS and perhaps, even the medical training within their staff.
Megan’s death is not the only one linked to diabulimia, and while there have been articles publicized about the illness before and reports of deaths directly linked to insulin restricting, particularly in women, in order to lose weight, it seems like the general public and the National Health Service are only waking up to it now.
It is only to be hoped that Megan’s death draws more attention to the illness and aids in the beginning of more research and more awareness regarding it.
To read more about diabulimia, and how to identify symptoms and get support if you, a friend or a family member may be suffering from it, take a look at these websites.
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