A new study from Eat Breathe Thrive, an organization dedicated to helping people with eating disorders, has found that the organization was able to help 70% of patients heal from “chronic” eating disorders lasting more than 10 years. The study is an important development, as some euthanasia legislation allows for “assisted death” for long-term eating disorders that may be labeled as “terminal” cases.
The study, published in the International Journal of Eating Disorders, found that the Eat Breathe Thrive Recovery Protocol was able to “lead to substantial improvements in eating disorder symptoms, including among those with long-standing conditions who have not responded to previous treatments.” Among the improvements study participants experienced were a reduction in eating disorder symptoms along with less depression and anxiety, and improved mental health factors.
Seeking assisted suicide or euthanasia for an eating disorder is, unfortunately, not as far-fetched as some may believe. A July study released by the same organization found that at least 60 people received assisted suicide or euthanasia for eating disorders between 2012 and 2024 — though experts warn that the actual number is likely much higher.
“We have concerns they may only be the tip of the iceberg,” warned Chelsea Roff, founder of Eat Breathe Thrive. “We found significant gaps in reporting, suggesting the actual number of cases may be much higher.”
Roff has been actively lobbying against euthanasia legislation currently being considered in the United Kingdom, warning that its “vague” language would put vulnerable people like those struggling with eating disorders at risk.
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“People with eating disorders already struggle to get timely access to the care they need,” she said last month. “Sometimes they are even told by treatment providers they are unlikely to recover. There is so much more the NHS could be doing to support patients. This law would do the opposite. Time and again, similar eligibility criteria to those being proposed have seen patients with severe anorexia nervosa qualify for an assisted death. The same would happen here. The heartbreaking reality is that if this bill becomes law, scores of vulnerable young women could receive assistance from the NHS to kill themselves.”
Roff has previously written about her own struggle 19 years ago with anorexia, which ultimately led her to start her organization.
“Nearly all aid-in-dying laws contain an important proviso. Physicians must confirm patients have the mental capacity to make an informed decision. Assessing capacity in a mentally ill person—an illness that, by definition, impairs mental functioning—requires careful evaluation,” she explained in a Newsweek op-ed published in February. “But it is especially complex in anorexia, a disorder in which patients appear rational in all ways except their ability to do the one thing that could save their lives—eat.
“Even at the height of my illness, I was a convincing narrator of my mental capacity. I was remarkably lucid, yet could not comprehend the risk that starvation posed to my life. One of the most striking neurological effects of starvation is how it distorts your emotional perception of risk and reward.”
She continued, “If the option for assisted dying had been available, I would have taken it…For years, I believed I had a chronic and likely terminal disease. I was told by well-meaning medical professionals that relapse was inevitable.”
She went on to warn of the chilling effects of legalizing “assisted death” when better palliative care and treatment options are needed for people with eating disorders. “We can respect a person’s autonomy without colluding with their most despairing thoughts—the feeling their life is not valuable. I am alive today thanks to those who never gave up on me, and for that, I will always be grateful,” she said.
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