TCA: The silent suffering of the sick revealed by photographer Lavinia Nocelli

Anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa and binge eating disorder, listed as eating disorders (ED), affect nearly a million people in France, particularly young adolescent girls, and constitute, according to the French Health Insurance, the second leading cause of premature death among 15-24 year-olds, just after road accidents.

These statistics are similar among our transalpine neighbors and it is to better understand this reality that the photographer Lavinia Nocelli followed, during the summer of 2021, the patients of the Eating Disorders Center in Fermo, in the Marche region. Le Monde chose to publish this report in Italy to mark Eating Disorders Awareness Week, organized from June 2 to 8 by the French Anorexia Bulimia Federation, an association of specialized health professionals.

Patients with eating disorders often try to make their suffering visible through gestures of "crying for help." In adolescents, this can manifest as slashing their arms, legs, or other body parts. Some exhaust themselves by forcing themselves to vomit after meals. Others withdraw into silence, isolating themselves from family and friends. Everyone affected by an eating disorder seeks help in one way or another. The challenge for those around them is to recognize it and intervene in time. When she arrived at the Eating Disorders Center, Chiara was still a minor. In her case, the binge eating episodes occurred at night, far from the watchful eye of her parents, who, for months, did not understand what was wrong with their daughter.

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