Meet Rachel. She weighed only 44 pounds when the video below was made.

She looks like she just walked out of a concentration camp, but this woman is not a piece of history. Not yet. She’s alive right now, but maybe not for long.

She is battling anorexia nervosa, and she needs help.

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Anorexia is not about vanity, and it’s not something to do to lose weight. Anorexia is a mental disorder, an illness, and it needs to be treated like one. People who suffer from it need help, not stigmatization or blame, but that’s often exactly what they get.

Rachel is crying out for help here, and with the response she’s received, she just might get it. But Rachel’s story is one shared by many in this country.

Let’s not let the out-flowing of compassion her video prompted stop with her. Spread the word about the seriousness of anorexia.

 

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Author: Kathryn Muyskens

Editor: Renee Jahnke

Photo: Rachel Farrokh-CNN