Patient Perspectives of Recovery in Adolescent Onset Anorexia Nervosa

Abstract

The aim of this qualitative study was to describe the patients' perspective of the recovery process from anorexia nervosa. On average 16 years after initial assessment at child and adolescent psychiatric clinics, 68 women were interviewed about what they attributed as important factors in the recovery process of their adolescent onset anorexia nervosa. The answers were coded using content analysis. Those having recovered (n = 58) were able to describe clear turning points in their history and mentioned as most important aspects in their recovery: friends, own decisions, activities, treatment, family of origin, and own family.

Most of all, we thank all the young women who participated in the interviews. For their economic support, we thank Visare Norr project no. 15/1997 and the county councils of Västernorrland, Västerbotten, Jämtland, and Norrbotten. Special thanks go to Erik Abrahamsson and Anna Torbiörnsson, members of the research group. We also thank the former members of the research group: Ulla Bergstedt, Eva Maxlathi, and Tom Åberg. For help with codings, we thank Gustaf Ståhlberg, PhD. We are grateful to Professor Walter Vandereycken who gave us important advice about the manuscript.