ANOREXIC and bulimic teenagers are not being treated as a high enough priority according to one mum who battled for eight months to get treatment for her 14-year-old son.

The mum, from Birchwood, is remaining anonymous to protect her son’s identity, but has lashed out at the NHS after waiting since September for family therapy.

Her son has lost more than 5½st since September.

He lost the weight originally by bingeing and purging and now doesn’t eat at all.

At one stage he was making himself sick so often that he was vomiting blood, but when his mum took him to hospital she was told there was nothing wrong with his weight.

He faces a two-year wait for cognitive behavioural therapy and he needs a mental health assessment prior to that.

“He won’t be here by then,” said his mum.

The boy does want to get better, but says he feels as though he may as well give into the disease since he won’t get help as he is.

“I want a way to get better,” he said.

“I want help but I’ve got to a point where I’m just tired of waiting.”

His mum echoed his sentiments. “He gets put in hospital because I push for it and then he’s being pushed out the next day because from a medical point of view he’s not at crisis point.”

The boy is now receiving family treatment at Liverpool-based Camhs, a national mental health service, in which he and his parents receive counselling to try to resolve the causes behind his eating disorder.

They have also been admitted to Chester eating disorders clinic.

They have also been admitted to a Chester eating disorders clinic.

As he waits for further treatment, he still makes himself sick every day, is missing school and suffers panic attacks. He weighs less than 9st.

“I feel a lot worse after being sick, but I can’t stop,” he said.

“I feel guilty, like I’ve failed.”