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Celebrity case studies
Mary-Kate Olsen - Anorexia
by Holly
Mary-Kate let her problem go too far, but now she's well on the way to recovery.
After much speculation
and finger pointing, Mary-Kate Olsen of the rich and famous young actresses the
Olsen Twins, has admitted to a "health disorder" which has been
reported to be anorexia nervosa. She has drawn attention to
eating
disorders.
Olsen was treated
at the Cirque Lodge in Utah just before she and her fraternal
twin, Ashley, turned 18. Ashley is believed to have persuaded Mary-Kate to get help
as they are both hoping to start university in New York later this year. "There's
more to this than just the hype about the thinness," said Lynn Grefe,
CEO of the National Eating Disorder Association. "Society
will just tell [an anorexic girl] to eat, like she's doing it on purpose. And
she wishes she could eat." A clinical program could help
Olsen re-learn how to eat — possibly via a feeding tube at first, later under
the supervision of a nutritionist. This should help her return to her normal
weight. Counsellors will also try to help her understand why she developed an
eating disorder, and doctors may prescribe an anti-depressant
Once indistinguishable from her twin sister
Ashley, the brunette Mary-Kate has been noticeably thinner in recent months.
People magazine senior editor Jess Cagle says that friends and family, who
realized a while ago that something had to be done, intervened so Mary-Kate
would enter the rehab clinic. “For the last couple of
years, at least one person we spoke to close to the family said there had been a
big change in her, including dark circles under the eyes and not looking right.
She had a car wreck a while ago. Her father said, ‘In order to get your car
back, you are going to have to gain some weight.’ The family had someone
watching her at meals. They were very, very concerned about this.“
"It's
incredibly courageous for her to go public," says Lori Gottlieb,
author of Stick Figure: A Diary of My Former Self. "She's
saying, 'Hey, I went too far. I know I have a problem. I've really hurt my body,
and I need to get help because I'm going to die or damage my body irreparably if
I don't do something.' In a twisted way, I think it's fabulous she admitted
this."
The sisters' "Got Milk?"
advertising campaign was postponed because of Mary-Kate's condition. The ads
began running in May and were scheduled to continue until the end of July, but
were retracted earlier this month. Ashley Olsen cancelled a trip to Australia to
promote their film "New York Minute" so that she could be with her
sister during her clinic stay.
"She is taking the time she needs for herself
right now," Ashley told People magazine. Right now is especially a good
time right before school so she can get healthy… It's private, I'm here for
her whenever she needs me."
Following
roughly 45 days receiving treatment Mary-Kate Olsen went home after she was
discharged from the facility. The actress had
originally signed up for a month-long treatment when she checked into the clinic
a few days before her 18th birthday in mid-June. She extended her stay for two
additional weeks after making progress. Although she cut her recommended
90-day stay just about in half, reports indicate the rehab process was a
successful one for the young star, who reportedly gained about 7 pounds during
her time at the centre.
"She
is feeling very well and is looking forward to rejoining her family and friends
and preparing for her freshman year at New York University,” a spokesman for
Mary-Kate and sister, Ashley, said. "For
the time being, she will be leading as normal a life as possible, with family,
friends, preparing for school, shopping, dinner, movies, etc,... She won't be
hiding."
Though Mary-Kate's clinic stay is over, her
post-treatment care will continue privately "with a great team of
people" in both Los Angeles, where she is now, and New York, where she will
attend university in late August.
Despite the encouraging signs, some
experts who specialize in eating disorders in teen
girls wonder if an early exit from rehab increases Olsen’s risk of
relapse. They noted that recovery can be a long
process once patients are outside of a clinic's care — for some, taking years.
Speculation about Olsen's shrinking figure began to emerge back in April when the twins unveiled their star on the Walk of Fame, where her appearance reportedly "raised a few eyebrows." Pictures of Mary-Kate in a backless purple dress revealed a well-defined spine and rib bones, and she has been pictured looking painfully thin in the UK and US newspapers. At the premiere of their first non-children’s film New York Minute, photographers were asked not to photograph the twins from behind. Both twins are very small, but Mary-Kate’s ribs and spine were showing through her skin. Not too much has been mentioned about Ashley’s weight, but sources say that neither twin eats much. At a recent Hollywood function, a source said Mary-Kate and Ashley barely touched their food. "They both played with the food on their plates, moving the food from side to side," the source says. "And Mary-Kate looked like nothing but skin and bones."
Perhaps
if the friends had got more worried earlier she wouldn’t be facing the public
humiliation. First and foremost, no one seems to have recognised the signs. Take
a look at any recent picture of Mary-Kate Olsen, and compare it with one from
only a few months before.
In an interview with 48 hours last spring,
Mary-Kate Olsen compared her looks to her sister's saying,
“I - are you kidding me? I look in the mirror and I'm like why do you look
pretty and I look ugly?" Mary-Kate's car was destroyed last month when her
car's brakes failed on jammed Los Angeles freeway, and her bodyguard could not
stop in time to avoid crashing into her car. Sources close to the twins say that the pressure of
growing up is taking its toll on Mary-Kate. "This
can be about the child's wish not to grow up," said New York
psychoanalyst Michelle Ascher Dunn. "In getting
thinner, you lose your breasts, you lose your period, and you become
pre-adolescent. You lose your adult physical status, and you get to turn time
backwards." She
is also reported to have collapsed earlier this year on the set of her and
Ashley's new movie, New York Minute. Denial can
also be a warning sign, something both sisters have been doing for months. Gossip
had swirled for months that her appearance was more and more drawn, but the
actress and her management refused to discuss the issue. She herself had poked
fun at the rumours on an episode of Saturday Night Live, which she had
hosted with Ashley. In this episode, Ashley, posing as a photographer, shouted
out to her "Mary-Kate, "You're too skinny! Eat a
sandwich!" All the signs were there, but no one seemed to pick up on
it.
The
following are some warning signs of a possible eating disorder:
- Skipping meals
- Overemphasis on
importance of weight and body size
- Weight loss or failure
to grow
- Change in foods that
were once favoured
- Frequent weighing
- 15- to
19-year-olds account for 40 percent of identified cases.
Common
medical consequences include:
- Slow heart rate
- A cold feeling due to
a slowed metabolic rate
- Low blood pressure and
dizziness
- Hair loss and skin
that looks sallow
- Interrupted menstrual
cycle
- Abnormal blood test
results, indicating vomiting and laxative abuse
But
what really drives successful, wealthy, seemingly happy people to
self-destructive types of behaviours and disorders such as anorexia?
Mary-Kate is
actually the perfect person to fall victim to this eating disorder. Stressful
events are likely to increase the risk of eating disorders: She is a
high-powered and very famous celebrity who has recently finished a major motion
picture, New York Minute, that didn't do what was expected at the box office (it earned less than $14 million in the four weeks following
release), and recently the twins became responsible for
their $300-million fortune as they turned. In addition, the Olsens are involved in a lawsuit against
videogame giant Acclaim Entertainment.
Plus, disorders can be aggravated when the
victim is famous and her career depends on how she looks. "You
always hear kids commenting about other kids' (weight)," says her friend,
Stephanie Plass, 17. "There's
one girl in school who was anorexic, and I remember some of the guys commenting
how it didn't seem to help her appearance. It's pretty tough."
Girls who are high
achievers, perfectionists who get great grades, excel in sports and are
considered leaders are most susceptible to eating disorders because they offer a
goal to strive for. "The
young woman doesn't feel as if she's in control of a lot of things in her life,
and the one thing she can control is her eating and her weight," says Lisa Thorn, associate director of the
Samaritan Women's Health Centre in New York.
There are a lot of Web sites that actually promote eating
disorders. Many of the more than 400 such Web sites called
"pro ana" for pro anorexia teach teens how to become anorexic and how to become bulimic and include picture galleries of waif-like models and celebrities.
These Web sites held Mary-Kate as the
ultimate standard.
“They
were fascinated by her,” Cagle says.
“She’d
become a hero to them. So it’s great that she has gotten into treatment.“
Dr. Evelyn
Attia, clinical
co-director of the Eating Disorders Research Program at Columbia University
Medical Centre, points out the most important step is embarking on treatment. “This
illness has, on one hand, very seriously low weight. On the other hand, a
reluctance to normalize weight and take care of the things you need to do, in
order to recover from this condition… The weight normalization has to come
first. And support and psychotherapy are very important, but they work best when
weight is closest to normal.”
Eating disorders tend to run in families, with female relatives most
often affected. A girl has a 10 to 20 times higher risk of developing anorexia
nervosa. Behaviour and environment may play a role in this. Asked
if the family should be concerned that Ashley might have a propensity for the
disease, Dr. Attia says, “We don’t know what causes
anorexia, but we know biology plays a role. In any family, there needs to be
vigilance, if there is, of course, a family member. Environmental factors factor
in as well. They can affect siblings and even twins differently.”
As they take control of their empire, Cagle says this illness might affect their
relationship. “Whether it brings them closer together or
tears them apart, no one knows yet. They’ve already planned on sort of going
their separate ways and doing separate things. I hope that Mary-Kate gets to the
point where she can talk about this in a wise and responsible way. That would be
the best thing to come out of it. It would help a lot of people,”
Mary-Kate still
intends attend
New York University with her sister
in the autumn.
"She is thankful for the encouragement and support of her friends and family, who are with her every step of the way," said Pagnotta.
Washington: The Olsen twins have reportedly threatened to take legal action against the designers of the controversial Save Mary-Kate T shirts, which show an emaciated Mary Kate, struggling with anorexia.
According to
Eonline, Randy Bol and Melissa Moss, founders of the fashion company responsible
for the Mary-Kate-inspired T-shirts, have ceased to sell any more T-shirts after
receiving an email threat from lawyer Gregory Redlitz, who represents the wonder
twins and their company, Dualstar.
Redlitz has reportedly requested Bol and Moss to stop selling the shirts or else
face a lawsuit for unauthorized use of the Mary-Kate and Ashley brand.
NEW YORK (AP) -- After spending time at a
treatment centre for an eating disorder, Mary-Kate Olsen is under heavy scrutiny
during her freshman year at New York University.
Her publicist, Michael Pagnotta, denied Tuesday a report on NBC's
"Today" show that the 18-year-old actress had suffered a setback and
returned to Los Angeles.
"Somehow there's a suggestion that she has relapsed
into an eating disorder," he said. "That's
just silly. She's in ongoing treatment for an eating disorder with an
experienced team of professionals who are available to her on both coasts. She
is working very hard at being well."
Pagnotta, in a statement, said Olsen is in Los Angeles for a few days on
personal business "and will be returning to New York
and to school shortly."
The New York Daily News also said in Tuesday's editions that Mary-Kate "has
been playing hooky in Los Angeles."
Janice Min, editor in chief of US Weekly magazine, said on the "Today"
show that the brunette half of the Olsen twins was under too much stress.
"She just got out of recovery when she came to New
York," Min said. "For anyone who has been
to college, the freshman year is stressful, and when you are Mary-Kate Olsen and
having the whole world watch your behaviour and what you eat was too much."
Find out more about Anorexia here