Laurie-Marie Pisciotta
Guest columnist
May 17, 2026, 5:08 a.m.
ETI was diagnosed with anorexia when I was 17 years old. My extreme fear of gainingweight instilled a steely resolve to overexercise and pick at meals – no matter howhungry I felt. Eventually, I got too thin to be healthy.
My doctor recommended residential treatment. Only one local residential treatmentcenter specialized in eating disorders. My mother and I toured the center, which wasdesigned to be a warm, home-like environment, rather than a clinical ward. At thattime, it accepted only women and girls, and I recall feeling relieved that I would beamong people like myself, struggling with similar fears, fighting the same urges.
Then we learned our insurance wouldn’t cover it.
Instead, I was approved for four weeks at a generalized, institutional residentialtreatment center, where teens with a wide range of conditions – addiction, self-harmand behavioral issues – were treated together. There was no specialized care foreating disorders. No individualized treatment. I attended AA and NA meetings thatweren’t relevant to my illness and did my best to make the most of them.
I stabilized and began eating again – not because the care was right, but because Iwas desperate to go home. After discharge, insurance covered four weeks of step-down care and outpatient therapy.
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