Wednesday 31 July 2013

It is NOT a get-out-of-jail-free card; parents are NOT to blame for their child's eating disorder

There is a lot of debate going on today as a result of my recent Mumsnet guest blog post as to whether or not parents are to blame for their child's eating disorder. Naturally, I state that they are NOT to blame - and no-one, anywhere will convince me otherwise, especially with all the latest neuroscience research coming through showing that anorexia patients' brains appear to be wired up differently from "normal" brains, reinforcing the belief that eating disorders are biological illnesses and not lifestyle choices. But I won't go into all the science here; you can read an excellent article on the subject by clicking this link.

Monday 29 July 2013

Bev is looking a little like Shrek...

Grrr... Call me a perfectionist, or it may be down to the fact that I come from an advertising agency background, but I expect my books to print perfectly every time, regardless of the printer. I publish through CreateSpace (owned by Amazon) and, when you order printed proofs, you order them from the States. Every copy I have received from the States so far - copies of both my books - have been spot-on perfect. It's the UK printers that have let me down.

Sunday 28 July 2013

Getting ready for university

Before Ben can return to university in September, he needs the "OK" from the university medical centre. This is because his one-year Leave of Absence was on medical grounds. So, no doubt, he'll be travelling down to Sheffield within the next week or so for an assessment. Goodness only knows what this assessment will comprise of, but hopefully they'll say and do the right things.

Saturday 27 July 2013

It's simple: all we want to do is to get our child well again.

Let's face it. All we parents want to do when we present our child in front of the NHS treatment team we've been allocated is to get our child well again - and as soon as possible.

Thursday 25 July 2013

"I'm happy, I have 'sort of' friends at last!"

... said Ben yesterday. To which I responded: "They're not 'sort of' friends, they're real friends." To which he replied: "Well they're not the kind of friends you can talk about old times with, because I haven't known them that long." "But that doesn't stop them from being real friends," I said. "At some point, your original friends were new friends and you had no common history to be nostalgic about."

University bound in September!

If you've read my book Please eat..., you will know that, last September, Ben attempted university, but was back home within days on an impromptu gap year. Initially we weren't sure whether or not he'd choose to take a second gap year, but yesterday he made the final decision that - yes - he's going to university this September. And this time it's going to work out OK.

No, success in life isn't about what you 'look like': why this report is so wrong...

I love Beat, the UK eating disorders charity, I really do - like most of my eating disorders network. Yet, yesterday, this report was brought to my attention. And, I can tell you, it's raised a few eyebrows amongst the eating disorder community so far. I am not the first person to blog or comment on it...

Tuesday 23 July 2013

An excellent cross-section of families from across the UK

There are many Good Things about my new book When Anorexia Came To Visit. The best thing of all is that these 20 wonderful families willingly volunteered to share their personal stories with other families they've never met in order to give them hope. But the other Good Thing is that I believe these 20 accounts represent an excellent cross-section of families from across the UK (looking primarily at restrictive anorexia nervosa).

Paperback version is out early!

Excellent news: When Anorexia Came To Visit is now available in paperback as well as Kindle, across the world. Here is the link to the UK Amazon site: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0957511841

Monday 22 July 2013

Phew! At last "When Anorexia Came To Visit" is published!!

I've spent the weekend updating the manuscript for When Anorexia Came To Visit where I talk to 20 families across the UK about their experiences of living with an eating disorder - and yesterday I published the Kindle version of 'When Anorexia Came To Visit' by Bev Mattocks It's also available on Kindle at Amazon.com. Just search for the book title or the ASIN number: B00E23AH6I. It will be available in paperback on the 31st July. And you can 'like' my new Facebook page which I set up today! Meanwhile...

Saturday 20 July 2013

Batty embarrasses herself in the hotel restaurant...

I'm still trying to work out the reason why, when served up with a pretty cr*p meal in the hotel restaurant I was staying at during my week's get-away in Somerset and Devon this last week, it set off the waterworks. Big style. And I haven't been so embarrassed or angry with myself since the time the same thing happened in church (described in my book "Please eat... A mother's struggle to free her teenage son from anorexia"). The more I tried to stop, the worse it got! And all because of some soggy roast potatoes. But why?

Monday 15 July 2013

Just me, a park, some wood pigeons and a squirrel

In my book "Please eat... A mother's struggle to free her teenage son from anorexia", I talk about how - during the most stressful moments of my son's eating disorder - I'd take time out at the end of the garden, watching the vegetables grow. We have a long garden, so it was a fantastic way to truly "walk away from the eating disorder", even if it was only for a moment or two. But there was another place, a place I'd imagine myself going to on those frequent nights when sleep evaded me. Yesterday I went back there - to the real place.

Friday 12 July 2013

Keeping a close watch...

We still weigh Ben every 2 weeks, just to be sure that things are continuing to move in the right direction - and, over the past month, he has lost weight on both occasions. He is now back to the weight he was in April 2012, just after he was discharged from CAMHS. And, remember, he was discharged from CAMHS at the same weight he was when he started CAMHS treatment. He is 4 - 5 kilos lighter than he should ideally be at his age and height. So I am keeping a very close watch...

Wednesday 3 July 2013

Reporting on our first holiday abroad since the Summer From Hell in 2010

If you've read my book Please eat..., you'll know that the summer of 2010 was an absolute nightmare - and it began with a fortnight's holiday in France. CAMHS had told me to back off and not talk about food for the duration. We were told to "go away and have a normal, happy family holiday". Ha ha ha ha, I hear you all say, as if you can take a "holiday" from your child's eating disorder!

Apologies for the long absence!

Ben and I spent a week in Cornwall (the one he won in a competition), spent a week back home before jetting off to our main family holiday in Italy. We came back at the weekend. So apologies for not writing any blog posts. And, in case you're wondering, my new book When Anorexia Came To Visit where I talk to 20 UK families about their experiences of living with an eating disorder will be published at the end of this month. Meanwhile my other book Please eat... which describes our own story is selling steadily on Amazon.