Downton Abbey actor David Robb is speaking out for the first time about his wife's death last year, saying that she was the victim of a deadly battle with anorexia. The late actress, Briony McRoberts, was 56 years old when she committed suicide by jumping in front of a train. She had struggled with anorexia for years, comparing it to a boa constrictor, slowly squeezing her to death. Robb said he wants people to know that anorexia is not a "self-centered" disease that only afflicts teenagers, but a serious malady that can target anyone at any age.
"It is a silent killer, not a quirk of diet but a mental illness," he told The London Evening Standard. "And if it gets its hooks in, it suffocates the person."
Robb traces his wife's anorexia back to her childhood, when her mother passed away from pneumonia at a very young age. He says that because that early trauma made McRoberts feel profoundly out of control, she later turned to unhealthy eating patterns.
Robb is correct in saying that anorexia is a mental illness, often triggered by an emotionally traumatic event. Too often treatment plans address the disorder but not its underlying psychological and emotional causes. The dual diagnosis treatment program at Fairwinds Treatment Center does both by providing patients with therapeutic counseling, in addition to access to a nutritionist and other services that are crucial for recovery.
If you believe that your loved one requires treatment for anorexia or another eating disorder or addiction, there is no better facility to help them than Fairwinds Treatment Center in Clearwater, Florida. For more information, contact us today at (727) 449-0300.
