anorexia is the cruestv and our brightest in fact the very people most likely to succeed in life that's certainly the case with Amy ubang Amy is a feastly intelligent girl perfectly aware that Her Mind is Playing Tricks on her but powerless to do anything about it she's shown incredible courage in allowing us into her life so have her parents Michael and Christine watching this family struggle is confronting viewing but it will help us all understand Mom take control or this will get worse the cries of a young woman whose body and mind have been ravaged
by anorexia I don't want to break down now seriously can you not see this the torment and torture of a mental illness I know I'm the wrong and bad person I no and a family in crisis I hate you so once tear is over they leave straight away for the past 6 and 1 half years 23-year-old Amy Uber Gang has been in the grip of anorexia when you look in that mirror what do you see I don't see much I I don't see a problem lot of the time when I look in the mirror I
just say flesh I see that I'm not doing it right that I'm not what I'm supposed to be and what is that part being diagnosed with anorexy and people say I look a certain way um that I do look sick but most of the part I just I see what it tells me to see which is something rather grotesque and big or or if anything normal you know this is a mental illness don't you why have you changed mom I wasn't going to do this I was going to cope you will cope I was going
to C tonight it is a mental illness that carries with it confronting physical symptoms and leaves Amy confused and conflicted and frustrations that often boil over uncontrollably you in confident I don't have to do explain to me your what you're feeling when I see your behavior you change you become more aggressive more disruptive feeling something really intense just kind of comes over you like a wave and it overwhelms you and at the same time some small part of you know what's going on it's like standing there watching it and you're feeling frustration that you can't
control it that you can't stop it that you're acting that way and then you know that soon there's going to be remorse or regret or shame or embarrassment or something to follow but it still won't change your behavior at the time do you get scared very very much and what scares you actually been afraid a lot of the consequences often mainly reactions from my parents will they stop loving me will they stop caring will they hit me back will they tell me off will they walk away will they wash the hands of me have I
pushed them over the limit this time Mom what are you pointing to I but you which one we tried everything that we could at our resources at a wend you know um and all I can say is that every day was living hell and it has been from um the moment the thing took a grip of her mom I am broken I am hurting Amy's parents Michael and Christine uang have tried everything I can recall one occasion where I was stamping my feet just pleading and crying and and um just pouring out my heart to
you know what will it take to get you to eat you're starving to death you need to come on sit but after so many years watching their daughter fade away they're now at breaking point it's falling apart so and that's the reality um we blessed to have such beautiful children every one of them and we're living by a threat of love so so everybody is impacted upon to tormented by it um do you think anybody wants to be there Michael I don't want to be sure Christine doesn't children don't do they love Amy yes do
we yes um if you take a uh thick rope and peel off the the finest fiber you can that's what we're hanging [Music] on Amy was raised in a normal Suburban home in ipswitch in Queensland she was a bright sensitive child and a high [Music] achiever highly strong anyone that grew up with me would describe me that way I think um as being quite an intense person need for perfectionism control in my life so even from a little girl or a young girl you you needed to have everything right yeah I was always comparing myself
always feeling that something's not right just trying trying to be perfect trying to be meet expectations and has that changed that person are you still that same person yeah I still think I'm that at a quit failure do you see that do you think that's what you are really not much at the moment really not much of a person at the moment just to feel like a just an empty shell when did anorexia wear its ugly head in Amy's life 17 at the age the the seeds were were there at the end of high school
and during those last years well the first time I knew was she had a skin problem so I took her to a doctor who was recommended to me and um while we were in the waiting room she said she hadn't menstruated for 3 months I think it was and the bomb sh hit me you knew then straight away so it doesn't matter even if they all are good I've got to still pick one and then how do you pick one cuz you got to make a choice Amy's illness is Complicated by the fact that she
also suffers obsessive compulsive disorder every meal every mouthful is planned at least a week ahead every piece of food is weighed examined and often rejected they want to see what I see right now dad do they no if you're worried about this there may be a brown crack inside the flesh she has an obsessive compulsive personality style every part of her life has these routines and rituals that dictate them and eating is just one example of that psychologist Renee Burmont has been treating Amy for four years well just cuz it's on the list and just
cuz we always have it doesn't mean it's not a problem okay you finished go through the last two things the issues that Amy faces go far beyond food food is one example of how she tries to restore control in her life and how she has tried to create an identity for herself
