Easton teen shares battle with eating disorder

Kaitlyn Milligan, 16, is like many high school seniors. She’s looking forward to starting college in the fall but aside from higher education, this October will mark Kaitlyn’s three-year battle with bulimia – a serious disorder where she will purge after eating.

“It started with like  oh, I won’t eat this. I won’t eat that and okay, I can’t eat this entire food group so let’s just get rid of it all.” Explains Milligan.

According to the National Eating Disorders Association, about 30 million adults in the U.S. suffer from an eating disorder at some point in their lives. Eating disorders can include anorexia, bulimia, and binge eating.

Kaitlyn tells 47 ABC, her urge can be triggered by something like critiquing her outfit.

“It’s just a spiraling downward spiral of oh my god, I don’t look good today. Maybe I look big, maybe I look fat. Maybe my pants are too tight, maybe my shirt’s too tight, so it’s just this overwhelming cycle like a staircase. It goes all the down.” She says.

This is a cycle licensed-therapist Melinda Brett can relate to all too well. Before treating clients like Kaitlyn, Brett suffered from a binge eating disorder. Brett says she recalls sneaking food as a child and it took years for her to recover. Now, the owner of ReConnections in Salisbury, she says she’s able to use her experience to help others.      

“I understand that piece, so we try to work on gentleness, compassion and kind of, baby steps. What we can do to start letting go some of this?” Explains Brett.

For Kaitlyn, that involves expressing herself through writing music and poetry. Though she faces this battle everyday, she’s not alone and offers positive as a piece of advice to those who might be fighting in secrecy.

“It’ll get better. Like, it honestly does. It’s taken me almost three years to realize this isn’t healthy. This isn’t a way to live my life.” Says Milligan.

Brett says fighting a disorder alone is not healthy. She says while it will differentiate between disorders, there are symptoms to spot someone who might be at risk of a disorder.

Subtle symptoms may include but are not limited to secrecy such as avoiding social situations, rapid weight change, and drinking lots of liquids frequently to replace food.