Eating Disorders Program Helps Toms River Woman Cope with Anorexia
For Jenn England, restricting food was a way to cope with stress - first as a college student and then when she finished graduate school and faced the daunting prospect of finding a full-time job.
She weighed herself “obsessively,” her daily mood affected by the number she saw on the scale.
“I was happy to lose but I always wanted to lose more,” she said.
Ms. England was exhibiting classic signs of anorexia nervosa, an eating disorder characterized by continual dieting, frequent weighing and weight loss of more than 15% of one’s body weight.
Ms. England, who lives in Toms River, did find a full-time job, but the job also brought stress.
She began seeing a therapist and a dietitian in 2015 and attended a support group for individuals with eating disorders at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Somerset.
Her weight dropped to a dangerously low point, causing her to pass out several times. An EKG showed an abnormality with her heart, prompting her therapist to recommend hospital care.
She was admitted in November 2015 to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Somerset’s Eating Disorders Program, one of only two facilities in New Jersey offering inpatient care for the treatment of eating disorders.
She completed nine days of inpatient care for anorexia before transitioning to partial hospitalization, where she spent a full day in treatment at the hospital, but went home each evening. After a relapse, she returned to inpatient care for 17 days and then spent a month in the partial hospitalization program.
Sharing with others who were going through the same thing provided Ms. England with social and emotional support. She practiced healthier ways to cope with stress, learning when to walk away from a stressful situation and take a deep breath. Dietitians taught her about healthy meal planning.
“It’s a lot of hard work – you’re vulnerable and you feel uncomfortable. But you just have to push through everything and when you come out on the other side, it’s a lot better,” said Ms. England. “The program and staff were phenomenal. I couldn’t ask for a better treatment team to help me get through this. I’m very thankful. They helped me get my life back.”