Familiar airline oxygen mask inspires life-saving epiphany for woman battling eating disorder in memoir

"The Oxygen Mask Rule" by Martha L. Thompson

Martha L. Thompson spent more than three decades battling anorexia nervosa, which she documents in her memoir “The Oxygen Mask Rule: How My Battle with Anorexia Nervosa Taught Me How to Survive” (ISBN 146647727X). She says that throughout her adolescence there was little understanding about the illness and very few books written by or about people who had recovered from eating disorders. She wants to reach out to men and women of all ages going through the same thing.

Thompson was in and out of hospitals numerous times by the age of 14. Remarkably the disease did not claim her life in early adulthood and she was temporarily able to find an outlet for her emotional needs by getting involved in acting. She studied theatre at Marymount Manhattan College and the Juilliard School of Drama, both of which she attended on full scholarship for her talents.

However, the summer before her freshman year of college, she traveled to Turkey where she fell in love with a Turkish man and was set to marry him. The objection of him marrying an American girl by his parents led Thompson into a downward spiral of depression, which became another catalyst for her eating disorder.

To rebound from relapse she dedicated herself once again to her passion in theatre where she was able to hide her self-destructive eating habits from the world and function well for another 10 years. When her father is killed suddenly in a car accident, her tenuous balancing act between anorexia and theatre falls apart; she plunges down to a low weight and the trauma and stress force her to retire from her passion.

Thompson’s love for animals, which starts with her beloved dog Gus, leads her to a second career at the Los Angeles Zoo and Botanical Gardens, where she learns to nurture others, as well as herself.

In order to stay alive she explores many philosophies of recovery. In recent years she came to understand that being of service to others provided the most comfort and freedom from anorexia. This is the genesis of “The Oxygen Mask Rule.” Onboard an airplane, passengers are instructed to make sure their masks are on first before assisting other passengers. Thompsom learns to apply this rule to her own life and embraces it as the golden rule in her recovery from anorexia nervosa.

Although she says there is no proven cure for anorexia nervosa, Thompson believes that people suffering and gasping for air from their eating disorders can find comfort and hope from books by individuals who have struggled with the same affliction.

“The Oxygen Mask Rule: How My Battle with Anorexia Nervosa Taught Me How to Survive” is available for sale online at Amazon.com and other channels.

About the Author: Martha L. Thompson has successfully survived a severe case of anorexia nervosa for more than three decades. She graduated from the Juilliard School of Drama and toured throughout the United States as an actor. Thompson left the acting industry in 1998, and currently works as the coordinator of volunteers for the Greater Los Angeles Zoo Association at the Los Angeles Zoo. Thompson also writes a weekly newsletter for the association.

MEDIA CONTACT
Martha L. Thompson
Email:             
Phone:             (323) 369-6223

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SOURCE:  Martha L. Thompson

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