I’m glad your brother is so supportive! I wish my family was even half as supportive. (Read only if you wanna hear the ramblings of a sad person. You’ve been warned.) My parents didn’t allow my sisters to have any involvement. They were never allowed to visit me in hospital. They weren’t allowed to talk about my ED during treatment. Our interactions were always awkward and tense because we weren’t allowed to talk about the elephant in the room (my ED). They’re teenagers too and maybe my mom thought I’d influence them to develop an ED too? Idk, nothing about it makes sense to me. I was forced to eat meals with one parent and I was forced to be the only one eating. My parents refused to eat with me. I wasn’t allowed to eat with my siblings because my parents forbid them from eating at the table with me. The four of them ate together and my parents singled me out. It was very isolating and I don’t understand why my parents did it. I have no idea what my sisters were thinking or feeling at the time because they weren’t allowed to talk about it. Their older sister almost died and they aren’t allowed to talk about it. Their support would have helped! Even just eating at the table with me would have made it easier because a parent staring at me wordlessly while I ate alone was isolating and stressful. One morning I had a huge fight with my dad because he wanted me to eat breakfast at a specific time but I needed to get ready in the bathroom before one of my sisters woke up cus she took forever in the bathroom. His specific time rule wasn’t routine, he just said it that morning out of the blue. Other mornings I could get ready then eat so I was confused. Eventually my other sister (not the one who takes forever in the bathroom) entered the dining room/kitchen and heard the argument between my dad and I. She started crying and told us to stop fighting, to act normal. Things escalated and I started sobbing too. I ate breakfast so she’d stop crying but I’ll never understand why we had to have a massive fight that morning. An avoidable fight. It was bad for all of us.
