Yale Decided She Has An Eating Disorder
Yale threatened to kick a healthy woman out of school if she didn't gain weight.
Frances Chan writes at HuffPo that she's always been small and slim but that a trip to Yale's health center for a worry over a lump in her breast (benign) turned into forced health checks and interventions over a belief she had an eating disorder:
I visited the cancer hospital on September 17, 2013, worrying about a lump in my breast. It turned out to be benign, but I received an email in November from the medical director about "a concern resulting from your recent visit." My stomach lurched. Was the lump malignant after all?I met with a clinician on December 4 and was told that the "concern" was my low weight and that I would meet with her for weekly weigh-ins. These appointments were not optional. The clinician threatened to put me on medical leave if I did not comply: "If it were up to the administration, school would already be out for you. I'm just trying to help."
I've always been small. I've been 5'2'' and 90 pounds since high school, but it has never led to any illnesses related to low weight or malnutrition. My mom was the same; my whole family is skinny. We all enjoy Mom's fabulous cooking, which included Taiwanese beef noodle soup, tricolor pasta, strawberry cheesecake, and cream puffs, none of which make the Weight Watchers shortlist. I just don't gain weight easily.
Yet the clinicians at Yale Health think there's more to it. Every week, I try to convince my clinician that I am healthy but skinny. Over the past several months, however, I've realized the futility of arguing with her.
"You should try to gain at least two more pounds." (What difference does two pounds make?)
"Come next week to take a blood test to check your electrolytes." (No consideration that I had three exams that week.)
"I know you've said in the past that you don't eat as much when you get stressed out." (I've never said that.)
So instead of arguing, I decided that perhaps the more I complied, the sooner I could resume my normal life.
...Finally, I decided to start a weight-gain diet. If I only had to gain two pounds, it was worth a shot to stop the trouble. I asked my health-conscious friends what they do to remain slim and did the exact opposite. In addition to loading up on carbs for each meal, I've eaten 3-4 scoops of ice cream twice a day with chocolate, cookies, or Cheetos at bedtime. I take elevators instead of stairs wherever possible.
Eventually, the scale said I was two pounds heavier. When I saw her last Friday, I felt my stomach tighten, my heart racing. Would I finally be granted parole?
"You've gained two pounds, but that still isn't enough. Ideally, you should go up to 95 pounds." I hung my head in disbelief. I've already shared with you the memorable exchange that followed.
She had finally cracked me. I was Sisyphus the Greek king, forever trapped trying uselessly to push a boulder up a hill. Being forced to meet a standard that I could never meet was stressful and made me resent meals. I broke down sobbing in my dean's office, in my suitemate's arms afterwards, and Saturday morning on the phone with my parents. At this rate, I was well on my way to developing an eating disorder before anyone could diagnose the currently nonexistent one.
Other Yale students have experienced similar forced "health" interventions.
Note that what Yale actually did is send this woman into unhealthy forms of eating -- carb-loading, eating a lot of sugar -- and refraining from exercising.
I think this may suggest shades of what we're to experience if we have healthcare supplied by the state -- an expressed goal of Obama's -- and where we may end up if Obamacare sends private healthcare concerns out of business.
via @jbrodkin
In the article Ms Chan says, "It is clear that the University does care about students suspected of struggling with eating disorders. And it should."
I don't see why it's any of the university's business. It bothers me that Ms Chan assumes that it is.
Ken R at March 13, 2014 2:20 AM
She should get examined by a real, outside physician with proper credentials. She should get it in writing that she does not have a medical problem. She and her attorney should pay a visit to the school administration, and advise them that any further intervention by school health authorities, any more forced visits, in contravention of her official medical diagnosis will result in a lawsuit and tons of nasty publicity. That should put a stop to the meddling in her life by the school.
cpabroker at March 13, 2014 3:49 AM
What cpabroker said. Anyway, somebody violated patient confidentiality here - this could even be criminal...
a_random_guy at March 13, 2014 5:01 AM
"I think this may suggest shades of what we're to experience if we have healthcare supplied by the state . . ."
I totally agree; and we also need to remind those who favor Obamacare and the rest of the government nanny-state that the government cannot be sued; whereas a private healthcare provider can be.
As for Ms. Chan, I think she made one mistake (easier for me to say since I wasn't in her shoes) in that she should have told them to mind their own business from the get go. That nonsense of "I'm just trying to help you" is the oldest authoritarian trick in the book. My response would have been (and granted I'm an old goat, not a vulnerable young kid): "You want to help me? How about you mind your own beeswax! that's how you can help me!" All said, of course, in my crotchety old man voice.
Charles at March 13, 2014 5:49 AM
Amy Alkon
http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2014/03/13/yale_decided_sh.html#comment-4370739">comment from Ken RIt is clear that the University does care about students suspected of struggling with eating disorders. And it should."
I would guess they are worried for two reasons:
Bad press. Litigation.
Amy Alkon at March 13, 2014 5:59 AM
This is pre-Obamacare, back when health insurance was "normal". A friend was applying for health insurance through a broker, and gave an honest answer for her daughter's weight on the application. Her family is small and slender also, with gymnast bodies. The broker replied "are you sure she's not a few lbs heavier than that?", which of course suddenly she was.
There is a lot to blame on Obamacare. But this was happening before that. The height/weight (now BMI, which is more factual because there's math involved) charts are the law. You better not violate them.
flbeachmom at March 13, 2014 6:12 AM
we also need to remind those who favor Obamacare and the rest of the government nanny-state that the government cannot be sued
That's not completely true. The federal government can allow people to sue them. And it has. Now sometimes, that is just.
But it can be just a fancy way of laundering money transfers from an agency to a favored lobbyist. Such as between the EPA and favored environmental groups.
But yes, the point stands: Obamacare is the federal government's way of controlling people. Because your diet, behaviour, or activities may lead to a higher health cost. So no, you can't go rock climbing, drive a race car, or have sex with unapproved partners.
I R A Darth Aggie at March 13, 2014 6:22 AM
"(now BMI, which is more factual because there's math involved)"
flbeachmom, I think you're new here, so you probably haven't yet been treated to my rants about BMI. It's actually a rather blatant over-simplification that produces ridiculous results for a lot of people, such as LeBron James and Payton Manning being classified as obese. The right way to do it is a water displacement test, but in the age of assembly-line medicine, that's too much effort.
Cousin Dave at March 13, 2014 7:10 AM
Cousin Dave, I thought that my BMI sarcasm would be clear, but it wasn't...
flbeachmom at March 13, 2014 8:12 AM
Etheir the Yale link is bad, or they pulled the story
lujlp at March 13, 2014 9:33 AM
Why try to gain weight? A large McDonald's fries and a beer the night before and chugging a quart of water right before the weigh-in would have you hitting the magical five pound mark.
Elle at March 13, 2014 10:37 AM
Oh, great. Now we're letting the BMI become tyrannical at the low end. The health nannies will never be happy until they control our every waking moment.
Mike at March 13, 2014 11:21 AM
flbeachmom, my apologies... that totally got by me. Good one.
Cousin Dave at March 13, 2014 12:18 PM
The next step is mandatory psychological counseling for having the wrong thoughts.
Bill O Rights at March 13, 2014 12:22 PM
Well, I am pretty sure the reason she is underweight is #Patriarchy.
I am neither a doctor nor lawyer.
I believe the school can act like her parent due to their responsibility "in loco parentis". I am familiar with several recent cases (to friends kids) in which the schools basically made it impossible for a parent to parent and yet still refused to perform "in loco parentis" themselves, leaving very young adults (over 18, under 20) to manage the large university environment on their own.
Regardless, I think her next visit should not be to school dietician but to a lawyer. (Maybe a student in her school's law program.)
jerry at March 13, 2014 2:20 PM
I love the juxtaposition! In high school, kids are scolded for eating too many calories and then in college, they get in trouble for a BMI that is too low.
That might have been my son, who was 6'1" and weighed 150 while consuming 7,000 calories per day.
Jen at March 13, 2014 4:11 PM
I wonder who staffs that clinic.
I'll bet it is a bunch of young interns with some (stereotypical desc) fat, old, lazy, senior, medical professor that hasn't cracked a book in a decade.
So he hears from the CDC/EPA/FDA let's use the BMI. So he details the new testing program out to some intern, instead of actually doing it himself.
Then this young lady shows up as an edge case and is tortured by the hard and fast rules written by some intern and then signed off on by the professor who has no fucking clue.
I ran into this years ago when my lady was taking warfarin. We were asking for a prescription for a PT/INR test meter. I brought in about a quarter ream of supporting documentation. The intern looked at it and said essentially "Yes, that should work." The attending refused to sign off on the prescription.
Jim P. at March 13, 2014 4:51 PM
Are you kidding me? I struggle with weight gain every day. I do my best to diet properly (low carb - very little wheat) and exercise when I can. I would love to have this woman's metabolism.
Why do I get the impression that the Yale health center is run by jealous fatties?
mpetrie98 at March 14, 2014 8:47 PM
Leave a comment