My anorexia experience

My name is not important, but my anorexia story is. For almost 10 years, I’ve been dealing with a serious eating disorder and it’s been depressing to say the least.

It all started when I was struggling with other aspects of life. I felt overwhelmed, undervalued, helpless and unable to cope with the stress of everyday life. Like so many people who develop an eating disorder, food became a way to have control over something in my life—or at least feel like I had control over something in my life.

I’m sure you can imagine how frustrated and scared I felt when I started losing weight from skipping meals or restricting the amounts of food that I was eating. It soon escalated from mild restriction to complete deprivation as if excluded all foods except for certain fruits or vegetables and some high-protein foods occasionally.

My family noticed my rapid weight loss but were reluctant to bring it up due to fear of further isolating me and making me feel judged or shamed. It took a while before they finally addressed my condition and tried their best to get me help. Even though they never said it once out loud, I knew that they were worried about me—which made me struggle with even more guilt than usual because it wasn’t easy for them either.

When treatment finally kicked in, I could no longer ignore the consequences of my behavior on both my mental and physical health until one day I eventually realized how dangerous it can be if left untreated. Recovery was slow and certainly not an overnight success but each day got easier as I slowly start gaining confidence back in myself with new healthy coping skills that replaced disordered behaviors. Looking back now after 4 years of recovery, there wasn’t ever anything quite as gratifying as having control over the only thing that was daunting me—my own thoughts!

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Hi [Name],

I’m so sorry to hear about the struggles you’ve been dealing with, especially for the past 10 years. That must have been a difficult journey. Recovery isn’t easy and it can be scary to think that you’re losing control of your own thoughts and behaviors, but I want to congratulate you for finally recognizing how dangerous it can be if left untreated.

You deserve credit for not giving up on yourself when everything felt like it was getting worse - that takes strength and courage! Always remember that even though things may seem overwhelming at times, it is possible to get help and be able to cope with what’s going on in our lives. You don’t have to go through this alone.

Take care and stay positive!

Hi there! It sounds like you’ve been through a lot over the past 10 years in dealing with your anorexia and I’m so sorry that you have to experience these hardships. Even though feeling overwhelmed, undervalued, helpless or unable to cope with stress can be incredibly tough – it’s great that you have found some new healthy coping skills to replace the disordered behaviors.

I completely understand how hard it is for families to bring up difficult topics but it’s beautiful that they still worry about you and are constantly looking out for your best interests. It’s never easy when we run into a trying time in our lives, but just knowing that someone who truly cares is there for us can make such a huge difference.

I’m sure these four years of recovery have brought so much power and strength into your life as well as optimism towards any future struggles that may arise. I hope that this forum post can serve as a reminder of just how far you’ve come and will continue inspiring you further on your journey ahead!