Dear Shhh and all readers on this site,

You ask, "How do we provide for these children and their families? Are things ever likely to change?"

I don't know the answer to the first question except that it will involve community recognition of the issues and coordinated effort to create affordable environments for them.

The second question I answer with a resounding, yes!  People were dying of AIDs in droves. They live much longer now. Same for women with breast cancer.  Polio is on the run.  The bubonic plague is a terrifying title, but the actual illness can be treated.

This website exists because I believe wholeheartedly in my yes.  People recover from eating disorders.

Not only do they recover, but they discover untapped resources within themselves that can improve their lives and the lives of other people.

Recovery is about so much more than ending an eating disorder.  It really means getting better: getting better as a human being, as a talent, as a participant in the affairs of the world.

The more healing and health we can bring to ourselves and each other, the more creativity, clear thinking, compassion and insight we can bring to the problems that face our generation.  And that's where the solutions lie.

It's not about calories, food choices, weight levels, appearance or bone density.  It's about bringing ourselves up to optimum as human beings so we can live a rich full life and bring new awareness, intelligence and perspectives to problems that have eluded us in the past.  We can do that. We are doing that.  And as we do this, terrible situations improve. The situations improve because we improve.