Disturbing Details Found In Karen Carpenter's Autopsy Report

Fans and critics were appalled by Carpenter's diminishing figure; they assumed she had cancer or another disease. What she was actually suffering from was Anorexia nervosa, something that Time reported was not widely understood at the time. 

According to The Guardian, Carpenter avoided eating at all costs and became skeletal. Her friends and family did not know how to help her and would "shove food" at her. By the early 1980s, her eating disorder was at an all-time high. Carpenter, who was reeling from a failed marriage and a grueling tour schedule, decided to seek help in New York. She would spend almost an entire year there (via Biography). Shortly after her arrival, Carpenter made some shocking confessions.

She told her therapist that she was taking 80 to 90 laxatives a night to lose weight. Additionally, Carpenter was abusing thyroid medication and was taking up to 10 pills a day to speed up her metabolism, despite her thyroid being normal. People reports that she did manage to gain around 23 pounds during this time. 

Much to the dismay of her therapist, Carpenter cut her treatment short and left New York to return to Los Angeles just in time for Thanksgiving. Although she was still weak, Carpenter was eating and making future tour plans. Months later, on February 4, 1983, Carpenter was found unresponsive on the floor at her parents' home. She was rushed to a hospital but doctors could not save her. Carpenter was only 32 years old.