MovieChat Forums > Thin (2006) Discussion > i hate Renfrew

i hate Renfrew

posted 17 years ago by dragonflyaz
13 replies | jump to latest

i'll say it again. Renfrew is horrible!! burnt out narcissistic therapists hired to babysit. they all sit in a room all day and fester about how much they hate themselves and the therapists encourage it because they think validating what these girls say is effective. on the first day maybe. but after that its time to do some real work. they never even take them outside or do activities.

they could do a documentary somewhere out west, perhaps. there are AWESOME facilities out here. where alternative therapies are popular. where people actually get in touch with their bodies again through activity and the environment.

i feel so angered that people think this documentary is good. and i hate that Renfrew thinks they look good in it. sickening.

[–] emie_camerod 17 years ago

I may agree with you, but I have never been to Renfrew. An ED “Rehab” is just that. A Rehab. Being an addict means you will always be an addict, recovery is mainly not an option when you have no hope, you know deep down inside you will resort to the same old habits.

When I watched this documentary, all I seen was judgmental faces on the employees.

[–] isis_maat 17 years ago

I agree to a point. I didn't like Renfrew the way they depicted it in the documentary (I'm not sure it helped much that most of the employees there seemed to be overweight or obese either...they're just as unhealthy as anorexics and bulimics). I did think it was good, however, in the way it depicted the struggle these women have with their disorders and what they go through on a daily basis. Hopefully though it might show some people out there that eating disorders are recognised as mental disorders for a reason and that the people suffering from them are not just 15-year-old cheerleaders "going through a phase" but rather people who have a legitimate illness and need treatment, not insurance companies kicking them out of the treatment facility after only a couple weeks.

[–] hodie 17 years ago

<I'm not sure it helped much that most of the employees there seemed to be overweight or obese either>

I don't think it either helped OR hurt them; if it was an influence on the patients, I don't remember any of them saying so. And it's not as if none of the patients had ever seen a fat person before they came to Renfrew. The patients seemed to be interested in one body only - their own, even if they did some harmful things to make those bodies thinner.

God save Donald Duck, vaudeville and variety

[–] hodie 17 years ago

<i feel so angered that people think this documentary is good>

People may think it's good because there are no other documentaries to compare it with.

I found it a bit depressing that the girls either relapsed or struggled, but they were all still relatively young. I don't know when the "average" person with an ED finally is successful in coming to terms with recovery. So maybe the outcomes were typical there, given the ages of the women.

God save Donald Duck, vaudeville and variety

[–] 17 years ago

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[–] Nearvana 15 years ago

i am completely pissed at the self-righteous staff. i didn't see anything they did as positive re-enforcement. from the unhealthy obese staff members, to kicking polly out for getting a tattoo? for giving her friend a mild sedative? for smoking thru a vent in the bathroom? or just keeping it from them? w-t-f. they used threats to keep these girls in line, threats & intimidation. besides monitoring their food intake & vital signs, what did they do to present themselves as positive role models? the staff were uptight b*tches. they could care less about these girls/women. the staff seemed to be on a major power trip. listening to a desperate mother plead with them to work with her daughter & the cold icy response she got. absolutely disgusted & pissed off after watching this docu. unreal. if there are any girls on this board, please do your research & find a positive place with a staff that cares, truly cares. i would stay as far away from this place as possible. renfrew should be shut down & those women who work there, should never be employed in any way shape or form involving any psychiatric care. disgusting.

serva me, serva bote
http://www.myspace.com/naervana

[–] gqtaste 15 years ago

There's always two sides and you have to take into account how the staff have seen it all before and over the yrs. these women lie over and over and over. They're has to be strict penalties for their actions.

I'd like to see some of you guys attempt to help these f'ed up girls out and see how far you get.

[–] 15 years ago

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[–] Nearvana 15 years ago

are you kidding me? if the staff is desensitized from working years upon years with people 'who have lied over & over', they need to find a new line of work. psychiatric care is generally handled on a case by case basis. punish the few to help the many? is that what you are saying? bs. & if these people were 'normal' they wouldn't be there in the first place. when you go into the psychiatric field, you should EXPECT a degree of deception, it doesn't give you license to be cold. that facility appears to be a money making scheme, total exploitation. & way to go at calling these women f'ked up. charming. i think i could do a better job, actually i know i could. unfortunately, that isn't saying much.

serva me, serva bote

[–] helenstays 15 years ago

I know; the staff was pretty ridiculous. Trying to make Polly eat pizza? I don't think it's positive therapy; if I overdosed on a certain type of pills, I'm pretty sure I'd never want to take them again if I were recovering from depression. The staff was beyond unhelpful as far as being perceptive goes.

[–] gqtaste 12 years ago

The patients are so screwed up they would make a meth addict look sane. When you're dealing w/ immature, sick women like that of course it's easier to place the blame on the people attempting to help the sick. It would be too easy to get frustrated with the patients right?

Was it the staff who got those folks there in the first place? No course not so you need to put the blame where it should be. On the disturbed.

[–] CranberryNoVodka 12 years ago

I must be one of the few people who doesn't think the staff is all that horrible.Everyone is different, but I found that the best way for me to maintain a healthy lifestyle after dealing with bulimia for eight years was to eat regular food again. Baby steps are nice, but it worked for me. The mentality that the patients and bulimics/anorexics have in general is very harmful, so it was hard for me to sympathize with them when they're all ill and feeding off each other's negative energy. Relapses are inevitable, but I think the staff did the best that the members could possibly do.

I'm feeling rough, I'm feeling raw, I'm in the prime of my life.

[–] 12 years ago

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