Frankie Gerard

Career girl, mum and now caring for my daughter through her eating disorder. Using pseudonym to protect my daughter's anonymity, not mine.

[Frankie Gerard @fran3tic]

My daughter just came home after 11 months in an eating disorder unit 100 miles away. It was a long tough road. The team never gave up on her or her capacity to recover. She's transformed & so far things are going well. I'm in awe of her. Never give up. #anorexia #edrecovery

[Frankie Gerard @fran3tic]

@campbellclaret It was so good. Everything he said about Europe was spot on. I'm amazed how one-sided the Rejoin arguments are as if Europe will just welcome us back. A discussion with you two on RiP about what the various realistic options for a rapprochement might be would be fab.

[Frankie Gerard @fran3tic]

@TheNewsAgents I find it extraordinary that nobody seems to consider that we need the EU to agree to us rejoining. Why do we assume they will have the appetite to renegotiate with us in particular with the prospect of Farage as the next PM?

[Frankie Gerard @fran3tic]

@campbellclaret I subscribe to your podcast; your attitude to this stuns me. I don't expect you to reflect my views; I do expect balance and proper consideration of the arguments made by so many (incl. most experts) who don't hold your views. It makes me question everything else you say.

[Frankie Gerard @fran3tic]

@nmdacosta Added to that, people with eating disorders still can't get the care they need. Lord F's hastily put together amnendment to close the "anorexia loophole" after months of denying it was an issue might not stay in place for long in the face of the parlous state of ED services.

[Frankie Gerard @fran3tic]

@DAaronovitch @historykev @soniasodha @dolphinmaria @ChelseaRoff conducted peer reviewed research that gives this figure (she couldnt get data from all countries so the number was likely in reality to be higher). Here's a video on this issue which I'd encourage you to watch. https://t.co/vuky9B6gqx

[Frankie Gerard @fran3tic]

@DAaronovitch @historykev @soniasodha @dolphinmaria An eating disorder is only terminal when people don't get the treatment they need to recover. That's a very different proposition & something that those arguing for assisted dying just don't seem to want to grasp. Those of us who've been through it understand only too well.

[Frankie Gerard @fran3tic]

@historykev My mother had a difficult hospital death and couldn't obtain palliative care. I support the idea of a national debate about care at the v end of life. This Bill isn't it, particularly as part of a struggling NHS which we experienced in both palliative & eating disorder care.

[Frankie Gerard @fran3tic]

@RestIsPolitics This is not what is going on. Many people have valid concerns about this Bill. Educate yourself about the substance before reframing this as a political game. It's not about religion or some people in the Lords that you don't like it. Many of us know too well what is at stake.

[Frankie Gerard @fran3tic]

@campbellclaret @RestIsPolitics I don't agree that you surmount your bias on the AD Bill to engage with valid concerns about its terms (eg look at the eating disorder debacle and the removal of the high court judge). Leadbetter consistently describes opponents as "religious". It's disingenuous & plain wrong.

[Frankie Gerard @fran3tic]

@CaraLisette @LLLChick Hi Cara - I had two c-sections. The first I thought I could manage without pain relief afterwards. It was OK but I was v slow to get back on my feet. The pain relief meds are miraculous. I recemmend to take them! And good luck. I even managed to enjoy mine :)

[Frankie Gerard @fran3tic]

@GordonBrown We also have to put right the problems in other areas that lead to terminal diagnoses through neglect, as has been the case in eating disorder care for decades.

[Frankie Gerard @fran3tic]

@CaraLisette It's awful for you amazing people in recovery. Awful for the celebs too as we know what rages in a malnourished brain whilst the world fetishises them. Hang in there and pls take your time post partum - somebody asked me when I was due, 8 weeks after my first was born!

[Frankie Gerard @fran3tic]

@HadleyFreeman @thetimes Thank you for writing about our toxic culture of extreme thinness. Having lived through my daughter's anorexia I can testify that anything "tastes better than thin". Very moved to hear Jessie Buckley talk about her teenage struggles with an ED & the pressure on her to be "small"

[Frankie Gerard @fran3tic]

Thank you @BraegerEmily for sharing the story of your illness with anorexia and struggle to get any care in iNews. We had a similar experience with our daughter. It's heartbreaking that things never seem to improve and understanding of the illness even by professionals is poor.

[Frankie Gerard @fran3tic]

@CalSleeper trying to get my daughter back to St Andrews after her train today was cancelled. Are you anticipating delays on the service to Dundee tonight as a result of the overhead line damage?

[Frankie Gerard @fran3tic]

Cynical move by @LordCFalconer. Hastily drawn up it will be difficult to enforce and doesn't address the issue that eating disorder services need reform and investment so that patients never find themselves in the position of receiving end of life diagnoses.

[Kevin Yuill @historykev]

'We lied the last time we said nobody with eating disorders could have an assisted death under the bill as it was in the Commons but you can trust us now. Honestly.' From the folks who brought you 'assisted dying' #assistedsuicide

[Kevin Yuill @historykev]

'We lied the last time we said nobody with eating disorders could have an assisted death under the bill as it was in the Commons but you can trust us now. Honestly.' From the folks who brought you 'assisted dying' #assistedsuicide

[Frankie Gerard @fran3tic]

@kimleadbeater @LordCFalconer pls read this article. It might help you see the problem with the AD bill for those with anorexia, a perspective you seem genuinely to struggle with #just1or2girls. .https://t.co/lrlsEs13y8

[Frankie Gerard @fran3tic]

Great article on the false narratives about eating disorders, autonomy and "untreatable" diagnoses. My d was immeasurably helped by compassionately delivered, involuntary treatment. It put her on the road to recovery. The lack of help after her discharge made sustaining it hard.

[Riccardo Dalle Grave @rdalleg]

Autonomy Should Not Mean Abandonment in Anorexia Nervosa | Psychology Today https://t.co/ou9JBGcFtK

[Cynthia Bulik @cbulik]

@rdalleg Thank you Riccardo! I appreciate your clearly reasoned analysis of our paper!