Eric Ostendorf Case Study

Eric Ostendorf is a 15 year old boy that has developed an eating disorder that is taking over his life. This started out as what seemed like a typical teen hobby, wanting to build some muscle. He started exercising excessively and got the point where it become an addiction. He lost loads of weight and had nearly zero body fat due is strict and obsessive diet. Eventually the doctors said that he couldn’t work out anymore and basically banned him from exercise. Eric found ways around the eating and exercise restrictions that were put in place by the doctors. He would wake up a few minutes early, run the shower and then pump out about a hundred push-ups, do some crunches and then get in the shower, get dressed, go downstairs, hide the food by

tossing it down the back of his big sweatshirt when no one was looking, then flush it down the toilet when he went to brush my teeth, and then he’d pump out some more push-ups. Eric was even working his way around these restrictions at school. He said that he would ask the teacher if he could use the restroom then do about 50 Chin-ups on the bar in the bathroom stalls. He did that every class period, every day, for four months straight. He'd often miss his ride home at the end of the day because he was busy walking laps around the halls with his heavy backpack and doing chin-ups in the boys' bathroom. When he got home and found his mother helping his younger brother with homework, he'd sneak off to do push-ups, crunches, squats and calf raises. His mother, Becky Ostendorf, arranged to have the vice principal casually walk by his table in the cafeteria and discreetly peer into his lunch bag, which he was required to leave open on the table. "I would stop at my locker to get my lunch like I was supposed to, and then I would make a beeline for the bathroom and, if no one was in there, I'd flush the food down the toilet. All I would have left is an apple because you can't flush an apple down the toilet." Eric’s diet got so obsessive that Ate 1 piece of cheese and then looked at the packaging and saw what was in it and freaked out. He then got on the treadmill and ran 3 miles. He didn’t think this was enough however so he ran another 2 miles. He said in an interview, “I’m so afraid of what food will do to my body. It’s become an addiction.” He would refuse food if it was not prepared in the way that he wanted it to be. Eric began to feel excluded from normal teenage life. All his friends were out living a normal life and he was trying to work out what his next meal was going to be. His family was affected hugely as well.

However he didn’t see the effect that he was having on others. Eric’s mother said, “Eric's eating disorder totally consumed our lives day in and day out. It was like nothing else mattered." Eric’s parents were horrified by the changes that were occurring in Eric and the unrealistic expectations that he had. They said that it got to the point that it was easier to adapt and go along with him than to fight it. They found the whole situation extremely distressing and wanted it fixed as soon as possible; for his sake and for theirs. Eric’s parents decided to appear on a "Dr. Phil" episode titled "Body Obsessed Boys," which aired Jan. 8, 2009. Becky Ostendorf said that their health insurance had run out, "so I very selfishly said, 'We're doing this show because maybe we'll get some help that's paid for.' I hate to admit that, but that was the point I was at." While on the show, Eric was offered care at Rogers Memorial Hospital, an advanced facility which specialised in the field of helping people with eating disorders. Eric’s birthday was on the 70th day of his 100 days in treatment at Rogers Memorial Hospital. He shared this journal entry, which was part of the treatment process, from that

day: