ATHLETE DISCUSSES BULIMIA BATTLE

Kathy Johnson Clarke will discuss her struggle with bulimia at APA’s 2003 annual meeting in San Francisco in the symposium titled “Pathological Body Sculpting in the Athlete.” The symposium, sponsored by the International Society for Sport Psychiatry (ISSP), will be held Monday, May 19, from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. in room 106 on the exhibit level of the Moscone Center.

Johnson is one of only four American women ever to win an individual medal in both World Championship and Olympic gymnastics competition. She was twice named Gymnast of the Year (in 1977 and 1985) by the U.S. Gymnastics Federation (now USA Gymnastics). She battled bulimia as a gymnast and emerged as a stronger person who channeled her athletic ability into running. Now retired from her sport, she is a motivational speaker and a highly regarded network sports commentator.

The ISSP’s vice president, Antonia Baum, M.D., will chair the session. Speakers include Harrison Pope, M.D., of McLean Hospital in Belmont, Mass., who will present his most recent research on anabolic steroid abuse.

Other participants are Jon-Jon Park, a former professional body builder and Olympic swimmer and current athletic trainer, and Joan Ryan, a journalist for the San Francisco Chronicle and author of Little Girls in Pretty Boxes.