Riptide: Struggling with and Resurfacing from a Daughter's Eating Disorder

Riptide: Struggling with and Resurfacing from a Daughter's Eating Disorder

by Barbara Hale-Seubert
Riptide: Struggling with and Resurfacing from a Daughter's Eating Disorder

Riptide: Struggling with and Resurfacing from a Daughter's Eating Disorder

by Barbara Hale-Seubert

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Overview

Riptide is the raw and revealing account of the author’s journey during the ten years her oldest daughter struggled with anorexia and bulimia, a battle that ended with her death at age 23 in February 2000.
Motherhood is about nurturing and protecting your child, yet with eating disorders, as with any addiction complicated by mental illness, parents can feel frustrated with powerlessness and filled with guilt and fear as they watch their beloved child consumed by a condition that has life-threatening power.
Eating disorders are rampant, with emaciated stars on the covers of tabloids and the modeling industry being challenged about unhealthy, unrealistic images of what is desirable. In the face of these ubiquitous images, obesity is at an all-time high among children and teens, driving more and younger children to “experiment” with anorectic and bulimic behaviors. That means more parents and caregivers need to understand how to cope and not only try to help these children, but also take care of themselves.
Using her unique perspective as a mother and psychotherapist, Barbara Hale-Seubert vividly chronicles her rollercoaster of grief, fear, and powerlessness. Here, Hale-Seubert holds onto the hope that her daughter could salvage some form of a life not fully eclipsed by the disorder, while at the same time learning to surrender what was out of her control and embracing, once again, the grace and value in her own life.
Riptide offers other parents the redemptive solace that comes with knowing that they aren’t alone in their struggles.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781550229950
Publisher: ECW Press
Publication date: 05/01/2011
Pages: 200
Product dimensions: 6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Barbara Hale-Seubert is a psychotherapist in practice with her husband, Andrew, and the parent of three surviving daughters and a stepson. She lives in Mansfield, Pennsylvania.

Read an Excerpt

As I opened the door of Erin’s apartment on a bright summer afternoon in 1999, I took a deep breath. My 22-year-old daughter lay on the daybed in her living room, bird-like legs stretched out over rumpled sheets. She was propped up on one elbow, drawing in a sketch pad, and her ankles were wrapped in thick white gauze and bandages. I tried not to grimace. I was used to scanning my daughter’s body for signs of deterioration, though it seemed impossible to imagine her more emaciated than she was. Functional starvation, if there was such a term, best described her condition. And now the meager flesh that remained on her ankles had been scalded a week ago when she’d dropped a pot of boiling water on the floor — undoubtedly because her arms no longer had the strength to lift it off the stove. I hadn’t realized it was quite this bad. Erin looked up at me. “They’re just not healing as fast as they should,” she said, her tone resigned. I glimpsed the edge of a raw open wound on one spindly leg. Erin was five feet tall and weighed about 60 pounds. How could her starving little body sustain the shock of these deep burns, much less keep her alive? Were painkillers at least softening the agony? The burns were bad, but I could handle that. Injuries heal. It was the rest of her that, over the past decade of brutal anorexia and depression, left me limp. I felt as though I’d washed up on the beach after alternately struggling to pull my daughter to shore and trying to free myself from a stranglehold that threatened to pull me under along with her. Close friends knew our family’s private pain, but the community at large could only guess at what was wrong when they saw Erin walk up Main Street, her skeletal frame somewhat disguised by baggy clothes, each step an obvious effort. She was a familiar sight in town. Weighed down by her ever-present tote bag stuffed with artificial sweetener packets, herbal tea, sketch pad and colored pencils, she would stop in at the espresso shop and ask for hot water for her tea, or perhaps meet an unemployed friend at Mister Donut. She identified with those whose lives were on the periphery of the 9-to-5 world. Once a gifted student, dancer, and artist, Erin now qualified for Social Security Disability benefits. Instead of anticipating graduate school or a challenging job, she hoped for an apartment in the housing program for the disabled, and underwent partial hospitalization three days a week. We had exiled Erin to this small apartment several months after she returned from her final failed long-term treatment. She was 21, and after years of having her alternating every few months between living with her father and with me, it was intolerable for either of us to have her in our home. The chronic stealing, bingeing, and purging that ruled her life made living with her a nightmare of missing money, discarded food containers, and clogged drains. Holiday celebrations and family birthday dinners were strained by our tense, surreptitious monitoring. Would the festive meal be flushed down the toilet once again, after she’d filled her shrunken stomach with turkey, mashed potatoes, and homemade rolls? Or would we feel equally frustrated and powerless as her bony jaw chewed, trance-like, on unadorned salad and naked vegetables? She either gorged or fasted, and we’d long since learned that there was nothing we could do. The happiness and well-being of my three younger daughters helped to redeem my motherhood and cushion my despair. Yet I was Erin’s mother, too, and I feared I had failed her. I walked across the room and sat down on the daybed, the weight of my body pulling her closer to me. Gently, I stroked her head. “I’ve thought of so many ways to commit suicide,” she said flatly. “But each one I’ve either already tried, or known someone where it didn’t work or was even worse afterwards. I’m not going to try anymore.” I flashed back to the night she’d swallowed half a bottle of pills. Why was she telling me this now? Did she think I would be relieved, or did she want me to know how desperate she still felt? I didn’t say anything. All my words had been used up, my heart frayed by the fear, sadness, and frustration that had consumed me for a decade. I continued to stroke her hair. That I could do.

Table of Contents

Foreword
Preface
1. The Mother Knot
2. Happy Days
3. Falling Down the Rabbit Hole
4. Till Love Do Us Part
5. Mother Load
6. Motherless
7. Four Winds
8. Pasta Patrol
9. In Food We Trust
10. Belmont
11. Therapy and Me
12. Good Grief
13. Locks and Lies
14. Snapshot
15. Pathfinders
16. The Picture of a Thousand Words
17. Jail
18. Madonna or Martyr
19. Cactus Flower
20. Faith and Family
21. Roller Coaster
22. Love and Resignation
23. False Alarm
24. Sam
25. Rock-a-Bye Baby
26. Riptide
Epilogue: Pietà
Acknowledgments

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"Riptide will benefit anyone who is dealing with a mentally ill or addicted family member. [Hale-Seubert] writes with genuine authenticity, warmth, compassion, and forgiveness — certainly for her daughter, and finally, for herself." —David Mandelbaum, PhD, family therapist

"Barbara Hale-Seubert has captured something I’ve never seen someone do in writing: the rawness and genuine authenticity of a mother’s pain. In the course of her book, she unlocked that pain and gave mothers permission to acknowledge their own needs and reactions." —Carolyn Hodges, CEO, Nutrition Clinic and Sol Stone Center for Eating Disorders

"A compelling, heart-wrenching journey into her family’s fatal ten-year odyssey. Miraculously, Barbara is able to tell her devastating story in a way that provides hope and guidance to others." —Doris Smeltzer, author, Andrea's Voice: Silenced by Bulimia

"Barbara Hale-Seubert’s raw honesty opens the door for others to walk through. She gives us a space to feel — free of judgment — and a place to honor our pain. In doing so she gives us hope. By sharing her and Erin’s journey, she joins us in ours." —Mary Ellen Clausen, executive director, Ophelia's Place

"A well-written and searingly honest account of a mother’s journey through loss and grief." —Frederic Luskin, PhD, author, Forgive for Good and Forgive for Love

"Hale-Seubert tells the story of a mother's worst nightmare—a daughter's struggle against and ultimate defeat by anorexia and bulimia. . . . Readers may find Hale-Seubert's book painful to read, but they will have a hard time turning away from the author's stark, candid, courageous voice." —Kirkus Reviews (April 15, 2011)

Reading Group Guide

As I opened the door of Erin’s apartment on a bright summer afternoon in 1999, I took a deep breath. My 22-year-old daughter lay on the daybed in her living room, bird-like legs stretched out over rumpled sheets. She was propped up on one elbow, drawing in a sketch pad, and her ankles were wrapped in thick white gauze and bandages. I tried not to grimace. I was used to scanning my daughter’s body for signs of deterioration, though it seemed impossible to imagine her more emaciated than she was. Functional starvation, if there was such a term, best described her condition. And now the meager flesh that remained on her ankles had been scalded a week ago when she’d dropped a pot of boiling water on the floor — undoubtedly because her arms no longer had the strength to lift it off the stove. I hadn’t realized it was quite this bad. Erin looked up at me. “They’re just not healing as fast as they should,” she said, her tone resigned. I glimpsed the edge of a raw open wound on one spindly leg. Erin was five feet tall and weighed about 60 pounds. How could her starving little body sustain the shock of these deep burns, much less keep her alive? Were painkillers at least softening the agony? The burns were bad, but I could handle that. Injuries heal. It was the rest of her that, over the past decade of brutal anorexia and depression, left me limp. I felt as though I’d washed up on the beach after alternately struggling to pull my daughter to shore and trying to free myself from a stranglehold that threatened to pull me under along with her. Close friends knew our family’s private pain, but the community at large could only guess at what was wrong when they saw Erin walk up Main Street, her skeletal frame somewhat disguised by baggy clothes, each step an obvious effort. She was a familiar sight in town. Weighed down by her ever-present tote bag stuffed with artificial sweetener packets, herbal tea, sketch pad and colored pencils, she would stop in at the espresso shop and ask for hot water for her tea, or perhaps meet an unemployed friend at Mister Donut. She identified with those whose lives were on the periphery of the 9-to-5 world. Once a gifted student, dancer, and artist, Erin now qualified for Social Security Disability benefits. Instead of anticipating graduate school or a challenging job, she hoped for an apartment in the housing program for the disabled, and underwent partial hospitalization three days a week. We had exiled Erin to this small apartment several months after she returned from her final failed long-term treatment. She was 21, and after years of having her alternating every few months between living with her father and with me, it was intolerable for either of us to have her in our home. The chronic stealing, bingeing, and purging that ruled her life made living with her a nightmare of missing money, discarded food containers, and clogged drains. Holiday celebrations and family birthday dinners were strained by our tense, surreptitious monitoring. Would the festive meal be flushed down the toilet once again, after she’d filled her shrunken stomach with turkey, mashed potatoes, and homemade rolls? Or would we feel equally frustrated and powerless as her bony jaw chewed, trance-like, on unadorned salad and naked vegetables? She either gorged or fasted, and we’d long since learned that there was nothing we could do. The happiness and well-being of my three younger daughters helped to redeem my motherhood and cushion my despair. Yet I was Erin’s mother, too, and I feared I had failed her. I walked across the room and sat down on the daybed, the weight of my body pulling her closer to me. Gently, I stroked her head. “I’ve thought of so many ways to commit suicide,” she said flatly. “But each one I’ve either already tried, or known someone where it didn’t work or was even worse afterwards. I’m not going to try anymore.” I flashed back to the night she’d swallowed half a bottle of pills. Why was she telling me this now? Did she think I would be relieved, or did she want me to know how desperate she still felt? I didn’t say anything. All my words had been used up, my heart frayed by the fear, sadness, and frustration that had consumed me for a decade. I continued to stroke her hair. That I could do.

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