Monday evening, Tom and Doris Smeltzer gathered at the Health Science Research Center, 750 Highland Ave., to share the story of their daughter, Andrea Smeltzer, a young woman from California who lost her struggle with bulimia at the age of 19 after a 13-month battle.
\Andrea's Voice: Eating Disorders From a Daughter's Insight and a Parent's Perspective,"" was put together by Andrea's parents in an attempt to educate students and parents around the country about eating disorders while keeping their daughter's memory alive.
Eating disorders can form for numerous reasons, ranging from a lack of general control, a perfectionist personality and close living arrangements to extreme pressures to conform, according to Susan Ehrlich, UW-Madison assistant clinical professor of pediatrics.
Andrea's mother said her daughter's eating disorder began to develop during her freshman year at Pitzer College in California.
Andrea kept detailed accounts of her journey through her battle, noting in her diary she ""felt alone, not loved by a boyfriend figure in her life. Ultimately, she felt she could not control all of the aspects of her life, but the one thing she could control was her weight,"" Doris said.
Anorexia and bulimia are mental disorders and therefore need to be treated physically as well as mentally, the Smeltzers said.
""Andrea in particular used the mental disorder as a way to numb other pains in her life and eventually she began to see her body as a separate entity, rather 'it' as opposed to her own body,"" noted Doris. ""She felt pure, clean and thinner after purging.""
Another big factor in the development of Andrea's eating disorder was her view of what was beautiful in Western culture. Andrea theorized to her mother that in our society there is no such thing as ""too thin"" and she thought she was safe because she was not to the point of being too thin.
Early detection and aggressive behavior are keys to stopping the disease before it gets out of control, Doris said.
Some warning signs include obsessive dieting and exercise, extreme preoccupation with food, lack of energy and signs of being cold all the time.
Even with early detection, the disease can still take three to five years to start to see a change in behavior and even longer to see a positive change in attitude, Doris noted.
""This can be a fatal disease and for that reason it has to be taken very, very seriously,"" Ehrlich said.
Tragically, Andrea's therapy was not aggressive enough, and after receiving treatment, she passed away in her sleep from an electrolyte imbalance in her heart.
The discussion had a profound impact on students in attendance.
""What hit me the hardest was when I stepped back and compared this to my own life, there are so many people I know that self-destruct and now I can see the profound impact of their behavior,"" UW-Madison junior Chelsea Zick said.
