Letter: Treat it seriously

Sir: What a tremendous relief to see anorexics written about with sensitivity ('Full of pain, starved of the right treatment', 11 May). Susie Orbach's is a realistic - and brutal - approach that is lacking everywhere, in the media and medical world alike.

As insulting and wrong as the ridiculous labels of 'slimmers' disease' and 'girly faddishness' are the frequent and inane platitudes that anorexia is a 'cry for help' or somehow stems from sexuality - or whatever else the day's trendy theme may be.

It hardly helps that while smiling down their absurdities these same people pump millions of pounds into making the situation worse: the media into brainwashing us that thin-is-good and shortsighted hype about starving individuals; the Health Service into inept and unsuitable treatment programmes. No longer can easy, hypocritical statements shrug off the problem. Anorexia is about deep-rooted pain; it is a whole, and self-throttling, mode of existence.

Yet to Orbach's comments it must be added that scattered through this country are hospital units, groups and individuals providing thorough and effective support. It is just sad that so often these are left to be established by individuals with personal experience of the illness. Worse, they are outside the range of health services available to most sufferers; to gain access, one must be both very ill and lucky.

There should be no need to look abroad for treatment; Britain has its own expertise to build on. We must be shaken into a dramatic shift in attitude and funding so that this is brought to the forefront.

Yours faithfully,

LUCY CLARKE

London, N13