I am scared of telling my brother about my anorexia

[PKrueger24]

I've posted here before ... I'm a male anorexic who has been living with this illness for three years now. I'm currently 24 years old, for the record. I moved to a major city recently and I will admit that while I'm not poor, I'm far from rich, and the only free treatment centre in my area has a minimum waiting period of 6 months, so I won't be able to get help for the next while.

 

I live alone and don't have any friends, so my posts here are really the only time I talk about it, but I honestly find living with Anorexia extremely hard at times. I don't mean to be pathetic, but some days are pure hell. I text my older brother from time to time to stay in touch, and he's really the only one I could talk to about this right now, but I'm scared. I do t want to burden him with this and I'm frankly scared he'd relay what I've told him to our parents, and they have enough going on in their lives that they don't need to stress about whether or not I'm healthy.

 

So I dunno. Sometimes it'd be nice to have someone to talk to about how I've been feeling and my fear of becoming fat and how I can't see my own body correctly, but then I figure my brother also has his own life and doesn't need to be burdened with my issues as well.

 

So what do you think? Should I just keep it to myself?

[CautiouslyOptimistic]

Tell your brother and your parents. Maybe they can get you some help sooner.

[RecentChange]

That is what family is for. Support in our time of need.

 

They love you - talk to them. Asking for help is the first step to recovery.

[d0nnivain]

I was an anorexic. Telling your brother is not a good idea. Stereotypically anorexia affects women. A 20 something guy no matter how loving is not going to say & do the right things in the face of your revelation & may actually make things worse unless he's a mental heath professional. You know your brother better than I do but I'd tell your mom before your brother.

 

I thought I read you are a teacher. Doesn't your school offer health insurance? Go to a doctor. Doesn't your school have an EAP program/ Seek out help that way. Your union probably has resources too. There is no need to wait for this free program. You also may not need a full on intervention / hospitalization with force feeding. Speak to a nutritionist. My grocery store has a free one. You just have to make an appointment. You need to educate yourself more about how & why food is good for you. It really does help combat the crazy.