Eating Disorder First-Hand Stories
We want everyone to know they are not alone in what they are experiencing and that there is hope for a better tomorrow.
We are looking for letters that contain insights into:
- how the writer's eating disorder began
- how it has affected her/him and others close to them
- how they got to the point of seeking treatment or why they haven't sought treatment
- what is treatment (therapy, medication, hospitalization) like
- if the person had a relapse, why? and were they able to recover
- and what is life like in recovery.
We would also like letters from family members of eating disorder sufferers. How did you discover your loved one had an eating disorder? What has life been like? And how have you been dealing with your own feelings and emotions since then?
Letters of Hope
Claire |
I don't exactly have one eating disorder. I have bulimic and anorexic tendencies. I don't know how common that is, but it's what my current situation is. I've had it since I was about 12. So, it's been 3 years now.
I was overweight for awhile when I was younger. Then I leveled off and when I entered junior high, I started putting on weight again. In junior high, it's a fate worse than death to be fat. So I began to diet. I went from a size 14 to a size 8, and then began to take diet pills. I then went from an 8 to a 1.
Only 2 people know about my eating disorder. My mom and one of my best friends. They are very understanding, but I don't think they fully understand what I'm going through. Sometimes they try to make me eat, which always results in a round of yelling and fuming.
Actually, what made me decide to get outside help was the story a Concerned Counseling friend of mine told me about her eating disorder experience. It was an eye opening experience and scared me.
I have tried therapy, but I have had bad experiences with most therapists and nutritionists. Concerned Counseling has been the one place where I have a good experience with a therapist. I am getting ready to seek help outside of Concerned Counseling, and it's kind of scary to me, but I'm willing to try.
I don't think I'll ever be fully recovered from my eating disorder. An eating disorder is something that's with you for life. I think I'm going to have to stay committed to it in a way. I'll always have to fight it, but it's a fight I'm willing to do.
| Anne Age: 20 Anorexia |
I was in denial most of the time, but part of me always knew something was wrong -- or at least different. After suffering quietly for about four years, I eventually got into eating disorder therapy with a psychologist and a psychiatrist. In addition, I have been hospitalized and have spent time in a residential eating disorder treatment center.
It was really helpful for me to be in the accepting and caring environment of the center. It provided me with a kind of rebirth to be with others in similar situations and the opportunity to share a mutual understanding of what we were fighting daily; suddenly my eating disorder didn't seem so powerful, knowing that we were all in on the battle and preoccupation together.
On the other hand, I hated the hospital because I felt even more alone, helpless, and hopeless there. Even though it probably saved my life at the time, it nevertheless was not beneficial for long-term help with the disease.
I continue to be in therapy and on medication. While I am working against this deadly enemy, I've experienced relapses. However, I now know that there is hope out there and that instead of ED killing me, I can kill ED.
With this in mind, I have learned to take not only one day, but one thing, at a time and to make the most of whatever I am presented with. Easier said than done, I often remind myself of what Emily Dickinson wrote:
"Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune without words,
And never stops at all."
reviewed by:
Harry Croft, MD (Psychiatrist)
Medical Director, HealthyPlace.com
Created on December 03, 2008 Last Updated on March 09, 2012
In Eating Disorders
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