Karen Carpenter’s Battle With Anorexia

Karen Carpenter and her brother Richard performed together as “The Carpenters” from 1970 to 1978. They had hit songs like Top Of The World, Rainy Days and Mondays, and We’ve Only Just Begun. Karen was known for her warm, rich contralto voice and her talent on the drum. She was a very skilled drummer. 

Behind the scenes, Karen was struggling with an eating disorder called anorexia nervosa. She began to lose weight and her appearance was something that caused everyone to worry. She started an eating disorder due to the severe pressures of fame and her complicated family dynamics.

Karen’s struggle with her weight began in high school. She started to diet and eventually began the Stillman diet that was under the guidance of her doctor. The diet included eating lean foods, drinking eight glasses of water a day and avoiding fatty foods. She was able to get to 120 pounds and she was able to keep that weight until 1973 when the Carpenters were at their peak of their career. 

It wasn’t until Karen saw a picture of herself and felt like what she was wearing made her look heavy. She got a personal trainer and changed her diet. She eventually fired her trainer since the muscle she had gained felt heavy and didn’t make her slimmer. 

In 1981, Karen had talked to her brother about a problem and she needed help. She was able to contact a doctor who had a patient that was a friend of Karen’s. She was recovering from anorexia. Karen was hoping for a fast recovery since she had things that she needed to do like recording sessions, but the doctor told her treatment would last between 1 to 3 years. 

By late 1981, Karen was taking thyroid replacement medication. She would misuse medication by taking as much as 90 pills per night along with the laxatives she regularly took to help her lose weight. Even after getting the medication taken away by her doctor, her health continued to deteriorate. Karen eventually got down to 77 pounds and she started to mention to her doctor that she felt dizzy and her heart was beating irregularly. 

In the fall of 1982, Karen was placed in intravenous parenteral nutrition while she was a patient at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York. She was able to gain 30 pounds, but because of how fast she gained the weight, it had put a strain on her already weak heart, but she was able to maintain a stable weight for the rest of her life. 

Weeks later, she moved back to California hoping to work on getting her career back on track. She started to work on a new album with Richard while finalizing her divorce from her husband. Her last performance was just before Christmas in 1982 when she sang Christmas carols for her god children and their classmates and friends. She seemed to be in good spirits but looked frail. 

Just a few days before she passed away, Karen saw her brother and  they were talking about plans for the group that included touring.

On February 4, 1983, the day she was supposed to sign the divorce papers, Karen collapsed in her parents’ house in Downey, California. She was unconscious when she was found by paramedics. She was in cardiac arrest with her heart beating every 10 seconds. She was rushed to the hospital, but at 9:51am, Karen was pronounced dead at the age of 32.  Her cause of death was heart failure due to her struggle with anorexia nervosa.