Click here first Someday Melissa
(for the movie poster, then hit the back button to read the story)
Melissa and Judy
“Someday Melissa” and We NEDAwareness Week 2012
From Judy Avrin to Karen Barber - Find Judy’s blog on the home page of this website – Judy Avrin “Someday Melissa”: “The Story of an Eating Disorder, Loss and Hope”
“In 2009, 19-year-old Melissa Avrin lost her life to an eating disorder after a long struggle with bulimia. It was a five year battle that wreaked havoc on her self-esteem, academic success, her friendships and family.
Melissa, an aspiring filmmaker and gifted writer, kept a journal to help express her feelings. Her poem “Someday…” became the inspiration for the documentary, Someday Melissa, the story of an eating disorder, loss and hope that her mother, Judy Avrin, made to create a tool that would help families, health care workers, educators and coaches better understand the devastation of eating disorders and provide a call to action.
Melissa’s story travelled the globe following an article in the New York Times and Judy’s subsequent appearance on The Today Show in the spring of 2010. She receives emails daily from around the world from people battling ED, who write to tell her that Melissa’s story has given them hope, that it has inspired them to keep fighting for their own “Someday…”. Parents write to thank her for speaking out to help break through the wall of secrecy and shame surrounding eating disorders, and bulimia in particular. Therapists are using the film as a treatment tool.
In 2010, Judy formed Someday Melissa, Inc., a 501(c)3 non-profit, to help fulfill her mission of speaking out against this devastating illness. The Someday Melissa team has created a Host a Screening program to help groups around the country plan events to raise awareness in their own communities. They developed a Screening Toolkit to aid in planning the event and a Handbook to accompany the film is being developed. Someday Melissa, Inc. is a member of the NEDA Network, a collaboration of like minded organizations around the country and during NEDAwareness Week, February 26th through March 3rd , there is a 25% discount available on all screenings.
The film is an official selection in the California Independent Film Festival in February and Judy is speaking at medical schools, colleges, high schools and treatment centers around the country. In March she will be speaking at the National Institute of Mental Health.
For more information visit their website: www.somedaymelissa.com”
“Someday Melissa” and We NEDAwareness Week 2012
How many women would you approximate have anorexia? bulimia? I wonder if it is more prevalent in the US than it is in any other country. I have discussed this with women from EU countries who have come over here and they say we are obsessed with looking thin and losing weight. I wish there were a huge randomized survey about this, not some Ladies Home Journal survey that is rot.
Carole, I am not sure about the stats, but put 2 women or 3 or more together and within 5 minutes, someone’s weight or diet comes up in conversation or at the very least thoughts. We are obsessed with “perfection”. Another dirty word like “diet”. We have to encourage each other to just “Be”. Be loving, honest, hard-working, morale, friendly, moderate in all things, busy, active, nourished, hydrated, HAPPY!!!! Karen