Thirty years ago, youth eating disorders were making headlines regularly. Fingers pointed at North America’s worship of celebrity culture and desire for thinness.
Fast forward to today. Although the headlines have all but disappeared, eating disorders among youth continue at an unprecedented pace. A study published in 2023 by the Canadian Medical Association Journal stated emergency department visits and hospitalizations for eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia surged during COVID in the 10 to 17 years bracket.
Lauren Seal, St. Albert’s former Poet Laureate has experienced the anxiety of dealing with an eating disorder, and has written Light Enough to Float, a novel-in-verse. She hosts the St. Albert launch on Sunday, Nov. 17 at the city’s downtown library.
Published by Penguin Random House, the 352-page novel-in-verse follows Evie, a teen who suffers from disordered thinking and fatphobia. Evie barely acknowledges her eating disorder when she’s admitted to an impatient treatment facility. Now her days are filled with calorie loading, therapy sessions and a desire for home, for control and for a time before her troubles began.
Once hospitalized, Evie meets other youth with similar disorders. Through diverse characters, the reader is introduced to bulimia, binge eating and avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID) or having little interest in food.
“Evie’s case is a desire for control. There are so many things out of control. The one thing she can control is her body. She doesn’t realize she has a disease, and she doesn’t have a handle on it,” said Seal.
The author’s emotionally powerful insights are borrowed from her personal experiences as a teen. Seal faced real-life struggles with anorexia, clinical depression, suicidal thoughts, skin picking and anxiety.
“When I was a teen, I wanted people to respect what I was going through. I wanted some sense of hope. I wrote the book to give teens who struggle some sense of hope.”
Extreme anxiety was at the core of the poet’s bout with anorexia. Even as a small child, she would develop severe stomach aches from anxiety and was sent home from school.
“When I was 14, I was very ill and was diagnosed with anorexia. I was hospitalized and went through inpatient and outpatient treatment. I was in a hospital for three or four months and allowed outpatient passes for a day,” Seal said.
For a young adolescent desperate for control over her life, regimented hospital life with no control over her choices was difficult.
“When you go through treatment, first they make you physically healthy. There is a lot wrong with you – blood, electrolyte levels. Basically, they try to undo everything I was trying to do,” said Seal.
“But they start at a low level. If they increase the calorie intake too fast, your body can go into shock. You take medication multiple times a day. You have group therapy and one-on-one therapy. It was also incredibly boring. Everything happens at a specific time every day.”
While Evie goes through treatment, she must make an important decision.
“She can either go through the motions of treatment or she can take the treatment and let go of the control and let people in and create a support system.”
Seal cautions eating disorders can affect anyone regardless of gender, age, sexuality, race, religion or size.
“The sooner you can provide treatment, the greater the likelihood of recovery.”
Seal’s book reading and signing takes place this Sunday at 2 p.m. in St. Albert Place’s Forsyth Hall. Following Seal's reading, Arienette Zak, St. Albert’s current Poet Laureate will host an interview with the author followed by audience questions.
