Personal Narrative: My Personal Experience With Eating Disorders

My eating disorder isn't my life, it's just a part of my life. I no longer give it power over me. I now know that I am capable of anything I set my mind to. I am strong and unconquerable. I am fighter, a believer, and visible message of hope that recovery is possible.

Eating disorders are extremely serious and often even fatal. They are tremendously trying on both the person with the disorder, and those who are close to them. I remember the time that my roommate and I were watching TV with a group of girls when one of the girls started commenting on how fat a certain actress had become, and how gross she looked. I saw the look on my roommate’s face when she heard this girl criticize this actress who still looked practically perfect. More than anything, the weight this actress had put on made her look healthier than she had before. I became quite concerned though when I noticed that my roommate ate nothing for the next three days, and the one meal she did eat I am certain she threw up soon after. My roommate, like many other girls, was trying to achieve an unattainable goal. Some girls will just never be so thin, and struggling to be is very dangerous.

As I jotted down the answer to my geometry homework, I felt the vibrations of the floor trembling beneath my feet from the deafening screams of my parents. I continued my work, as I go uninterrupted by the daily routine argument. One day, I didn’t hear the screaming anymore, which was one of the biggest abnormalities in this household. I slunk halfway down the stairs and stretched my neck over the banister to catch a glimpse of what had happened without getting caught. The next thing I knew my older brother was standing by my side, his curiosity piqued. My mom broke the silence by peering her head around the corner of the living room, her eyes locked onto mine. As my brother and my cover were blown, we walked gingerly to the couch and sat down. I watched my mom’s stone cold face quiver out the words, “We...are....divorcing”. My face froze as if I was in a cartoon show. I tried to

Back in 2005, Amy, at age 17, was diagnosed with Anorexia nervosa after dropping twenty-two pounds for a school dance. Amy had been under a great amount of stress with organizing their school ball, trying to find a partner, and getting a dress. She decided to drop weight before this special occasion. While at the ball, Amy received multiple compliments about her weight loss. This was a contributing factor to her Anorexia. Soon after, Amy’s family noticed she was still dropping weight. Amy was then given the opportunity to meet with an eating disorder therapist (Amy).

From an objective point of view, my physical health was crumbling before my eyes. From a subjective point of view in my very disordered mind, I was completely fine. I have lost to, fought against, rose up from, and recovered from an eating disorder. I was able to solve this majorly risky problem. At age sixteen my self-esteem was extremely low and my weight was at an all-time high. A doctor would say I was healthy for my age; however, my insecurities would not let me see it. The desire to lose weight was so strong I began the dark path down the road of bulimia. At age sixteen, I was aware that I had an eating disorder and it was not until two years later that I would seek treatment for it.

I have something to tell you. Her six words echo and millions of questions flash in my mind – What is it? What’s wrong? What happened? Is she okay? I would never have expected that the next words out of my best friend’s mouth would be I have an eating disorder. An eating disorder? At the time, I barely even knew what an eating disorder was or how to respond in that moment. Bulimia. This news was like a bullet to my chest. Again, questions raced through my mind – How long? What does this mean? How severe? What do I do? What do I say? How can I help? At age fifteen, one might have heard of an eating disorder but most likely never experienced it firsthand. I cannot imagine the extreme amount of courage that it took for her to tell me this, but

Anorexia has been described in many ways, ranging from a fatal mental disorder to simply a Western trend. However, only from experience can one fully understand the dangerous situation resulting from this diagnosis. In the winter of 2015, after the conclusion of the cross country season, I began to struggle severely with my weight and overall body image. I began to enforce dangerously low calorie limits on myself; my total caloric consumption would stay below 500 calories each day. Furthermore, I began to run for winter conditioning in preparation for the upcoming track season, thus continuing to lower my overall energy. My personal battle with anorexia continued until the beginning of track season, but even from a period as short as four months, the damage caused to my overall mental and physical health was immense.

This is topic that really hits home for myself, since I am sixteen years into my recovery from anorexia nervosa (AN) . As a future counselor, eating disorder treatment is also the field I would like to specialize in, given my experience with anorexic, binge eating, and purging behaviors. Diagnosed in my early twenties with AN, I experienced hospitalizations due to low weight, amenorrhea, laxative abuse, as well as binging and purging. Although my relationship with food continues to be a struggle to this day, I have maintained a healthy weight for many years and understand that I will always need to monitor my behaviors in order to remain healthy. Much like an alcoholic takes things day by day, so does the individual recovering from an

I hope everything is well in your life. We’ve been friends for over 10 years now and you and I could both agree that we know each other very well. However, I have been noticing unusual behavior from you in the past few months. Is everything alright? I want you to feel comfortable enough to talk to me about any problems that are going on in your life. I’m concerned about you.

“I am forever engaged in a silent battle in my head over whether or not to lift the fork to my mouth, and when I talk myself into doing so, I taste only shame. I have an eating disorder” (Morrow, 2010). For 10 million females and 1 million males in the United States alone, eating disorders, such as Anorexia Nervosa, are a daily struggle. The fifth edition of The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, also referred to as the DSM V (American Psychiatric Association, 2013), defines Anorexia Nervosa as an eating disorder in which an individual persistently restrict his or her daily caloric intake leading to significantly low body weight. An intense fear or gaining weight or becoming fat is present, and individuals use negative

I think this knowledge will help me in my continued journey to being an empathetic social worker. It also helped me better understand the struggles of someone living with an eating disorder and the difficulties encountered from the client perspective and it also provided some insight into the perspective of the staff. In addition, it shows the impact of the disorder on the family and reinforces the need to include family members in treatment as

Eating disorders are horrible illnesses, but I find anorexia especially disturbing. It just scares me that people with this disease would intentionally starve themselves. Even when they are clearly malnourishes and nothing but skin and bones, they still see themselves as “fat”. In addition to family support, medical treatment is often needed to restore normal weight.

I knew I needed to get help but I wasn’t very willing to recover. After almost 2 months I was released, at this point I was only 13, all I wanted was to wave a magic wand and for all of this to be over. It wasn’t until my freshman year that I discovered I had so much more to live for than to be skinny. It was that year I discovered the sport of cross country and realized what my body could do and began to love it. In the depths of fighting recovery I found a passion that replaced and relieved my thoughts. Just this past summer I was admitted into a partial program due to the fact I was losing weight and struggling to stick to my meal plan. There I met some of the strongest girls I have ever known. My eating disorder has connected me to so many people, and allowed me to share my struggle in hopes of pushing others on in their recovery. Not only did I discover a passion but also I have made countless friends who are all on the same

For over a year now, I have been battling an eating disorder, as a result of childhood abuse. As of last November, I took the first step into recovery when I agreed to receive treatment in a residential facility called Selah House. During my six-week stay there, I was forced to face some of my biggest fears. I learned new ways of coping with my feelings, along with the trauma that was engraved into my very being. Before treatment, my entire entity was consumed by my eating disorder. I was convinced that my only purpose in life was to be thin. I was okay with being sick because that’s where I felt comfortable. Nevertheless, I had to acknowledge that the one thing I was most scared of was the only thing that would set me free.

Look in the mirror. Do you like what you see? Most of us have come to appreciate ourselves for who we are. While other’s struggle to achieve the perfect body. They strive to be what is depicted in fashion magazines and movies. The never ending obsession to be the perfect size zero. This inevitably can lead to eating disorders. Eating disorders can cause someone to have an unhealthy image of themselves and food is the enemy. In a national survey at the Mclean Hospital in Massachusetts it was estimated that over 9 million people suffer with eating disorders. They can struggle with anorexia, bulimia or binge eating. A study conducted by the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders states that most of these