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Sixteen-year-old identical twins Taylor and Tricia have lost over 50 pounds in just the last year alone. They went from being two happy, healthy teenagers, weighing about 130 pounds to unhappy, emaciated sisters weighing barely 80 pounds.
Taylor and Tricia both know that they’re anorexic and bulimic – and to be so is incredibly unhealthy. But they can’t bring themselves to stop. In their desire to remain exactly identical, they’ve only fueled the unhealthy behavior.
The sisters go shopping for their binge food at the same time, eat precisely the same amount of food, and then head to the bathroom to binge at the same time. “Our goal as twins is to look identical, so we don’t have people saying ‘Oh, you’re the bigger twin,” Taylor explained.
Tricia, however, has occasionally tried to lie to her sister as a way of getting Taylor to actually eat more than her. “I get jealous when Taylor tells me that she lost a few pounds, and then I see that I didn’t, or that I gained weight. It makes me feel bad about myself,” she admitted.
Their parents have tried to intervene many times, but haven’t been successful. They can only watch helplessly and pray that their daughters don’t die before someone can properly help them.
“Sometimes we feel like we are alone,” Taylor said. “People are mean about [our eating disorder].”
“They feel as if we do this for attention,” Tricia elaborated. “What do you say back to that? It’s, like, I don’t do it for attention. I do it because my mind’s messed up.”
Their parents’ latest attempt to save their daughters has brought the entire family onto the Dr. Phil show. We can only hope that this visit will provide Taylor and Tricia the help they need.
You can watch a clip here:
