A Malady Called Anorexia Nervosa

Dear Ann Landers: I am a 14-year-old girl and so depressed I don’t know what to do anymore. I live in a small town and have always been a happy person. But in the last few months, depression has become part of my daily life.

I feel overweight, even though my mom and my friends tell me I should put on a few pounds because I’m too thin. I have changed from being a big eater who used to enjoy food to someone on the verge of collapse because I eat so little. I can’t talk to my mom about this because she would probably shove me into the hospital or do something drastic like that. Also, I am embarrassed about it because I know this is not normal.

Do you know anyone who can help me? I can’t handle this alone anymore and don’t know where to turn. - Reader in Manitoba, Canada

Dear Reader: You have a serious illness called anorexia nervosa. People who have this problem envision themselves as being fat when, in reality, they are extremely thin and often dangerously underweight. This problem originates in the head.

You need to see a doctor at once. If you don’t want to discuss this with your mother, please talk to your school counselor or another trusted adult.

In the meantime, write to the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders for information on what to do and how to get help. The address is: P.O. Box 7, Highland Park, Ill. 60035.

I urge you to waste no time. You are a sick girl who needs help.

Dear Ann Landers: Three cheers for telling that controlling, interfering, pain-in-the-neck mother-in-law to MYOB. The woman wanted her son to divorce his wife because it seemed like she wasn’t able to have children. That mother-in-law sounds a lot like mine.

My husband and I went to see several fertility specialists, and I subjected myself to a lot of experimental procedures, which were painful, time-consuming and expensive. I didn’t tell anyone in my husband’s family about it, although they kept pestering me with questions such as “When are you going to make us grandparents?”

After a lot of frustration, my doctor suggested that my husband be tested. Guess what? His sperm count was almost zero.

So please, Ann, tell the women who read your column that if they are having trouble getting pregnant, they should insist that their husbands get checked and not assume the problem is with them alone. - Kansas City

Dear K.C.: Thanks for those words of enlightenment from one who speaks from experience. Most fertility specialists automatically have the husband checked early on. I hope the ones you went to see this column.

Dear Ann Landers: I enjoyed the nostalgic Burma Shave jingles. May I be permitted to add a postscript?

I was a hospital corpsman with the 1st Marine Division during the battle to secure Okinawa. Most of us carried Burma Shave in our first aid supplies. It was an excellent treatment for white phosphorous burns. It cooled the burn, soothed the pain and extinguished any phosphorous that might still be burning. Burma Shave made a very positive contribution to World War II. J.W.F., Minneapolis, Minn.

Dear J.W.F.: Although I’ve called a halt to the Burma Shave jingles, I found your letter fascinating and am pleased to share it with my readers and give Burma Shave the credit it deserves. Thank you.