"The first 10 years of a girls life are spent playing with barbies and the next 10 years are spent trying to look like one."
Did you know that right now in the United States 10 million women are battling anorexia or bulimia? Did you know that 80% of all 10 years old are afraid of being fat? Or that 45% of 1st to 3rd grade girls want to be skinnier? Or did you know that anorexia is the third most common chronic illness among adolescents?
Maybe you didn't know all of this, but now that you know you understand that eating disorders are illnesses that millions of people have to face everyday and this could destroy them and led them even to suicide attempts.
For this blog post I decided not to only write about what I think about eating disorders because it would be kind of boring, I wanted to make this blog post a little different than the others and more special, I did a research and got the opportunity to communicate with a girl who had several struggles in her life and after everything that happened to her she is now living her life happily and the way she wants to. I will call her Izzy because that's the name she uses to introduce herself, I will only post the questions I did to her and her answers, but you can visit her blog http://living-with-anorexia.blogspot.com which is very interesting!
Me: First of all, what is anorexia nervosa?
Izzy: Anorexia is the eating disorder/mental illness where the person doesn't eat enough to sustain their body weight and see's themselevs as fat even though they are underweight. Also, anxiety and compulsion are often tied to eating and other areas in the persons life.
Me: What events in your life led you into anorexia nervosa?
Izzy: Its hard to know why I became sick, but I think it was because I wanted control over my life. I have another illness which made me very sick alot of the time. And I spent alot of time in hospital and taking different medication. Also, my parents are split up so every weekend my sister and I would travel to our dad's place. And when I was around 11, and began a new school I was very self conscious, had very lows self esteem and got easily stressed in school. So all of that combined lead me to controlling my food as a way to control my life.
Me: I read you self harmed, why did you do it?
Izzy: I had alot of anxiety, over food, weight gain, body image, my family, friends, my life, etc. And it was a way for me to cope especially when I had alot of anxiety. Instead of feeling all the mental pain, I would feel the physical pain instead.
Me: Did you suffered of bullying at school?
Izzy: No, I was never bullied in school.
Me: When you saw yourself in the mirror so skinny were you happy and proud? Or how did you felt?
Izzy: I never felt skinny whenever I looked in the mirror. I used to take alot of pictures of myself... to see if I was skinny or not. But I always saw myself at fat. There where times when I did see that i was skinny, but never too skinny. I never really accepted that I had an eating disorder, I knew I wasnt normal but I didnt think I was sick either. I never felt proud of myself, as i just wanted to lose more weight.
Me: Who was the person that more support gave to you in those difficult moments you had?
Izzy: My mum was my main supporter when I was sick. I lost alot of contacts with friends and with family while I was sick. But my mum was always there for me. But there came a time when I was too sick and she couldn't be around me. And I spent alot of time, on my own in hospital.
Me: How were your years at the treatment centers?
Izzy: They were difficult. I spent a total of 1,5 years in different treatment centres. There was alot of anxiety, tears, arguing, panic involved in being in treatment. I was forced to do things and eat things which I didn't want to but in the end they saved my life. Because I dont think I would have been able to recover without being in treatment.
Me: By your blog you express yourself, why did you decided to tell the world about the struggles you had years ago?
Izzy: Well I started blogging as a way to express myself. To let out my thoughts and emotions and write when I had anxiety. I have always found it very difficult to talk about how I am feeling. So instead I wrote. I never expected to have so many readers or followers. At the time it was just my online diary, but as I began to recover and finally was recovered I realized that i could help others and inspire others in the same situation so I carried on blogging.
Me: Describe your life while you had anorexia, how were your days?
Izzy: My days were filled with anxiety and panic. The times that I was at home - not in treatment. I would starve myself, exercise for hours, self harm and if I did eat anything I would purge. And then the days that I was in treatment, there would still be alot of anxiety and panic over eating. But I would be made to eat all my meals - 6 times a day. And would spend my whole day sitting in the living room of the treatment centre with all the other patients. While I was sick, I was always tired, cold and felt angry. I was very depressed and had no hope or will to live. I often thought about suicide, and have attempted it twice. I felt alot of anger towards myself and to the people around me... I was often sad and never smiled. I got anxiety about eating, about gaining weight, about my future and alot of other things. It was a very miserable place, and its hard to imagine that i lived like that for 4 years...
Me: How do you feel about yourself right now?
Izzy: Now I am happy. I love how my body looks and I love my life. I have learnt to accept myself just the way I am and have found coping skills for when i feel anxious or get too stressed.
Me: Now that you are healthy and safe from anorexia, what is a message you send to girls out there that are having struggles and eating disorders?
Izzy: To know that recovery is possible. I have been at the absolute bottom, but have fought myself to the top. You just have to want it. You have to fight, step outside of your comfort zone. Fight the voice in your head. It's tough to recover, but it is worth it. To get your life back, to feel happy again and to be able to live your life the way you want. And one thing to think about is that if you arent recovering from your eating disorder, you are dying from it.
Me: Describe how is your life now after 5 years of sickness.
Izzy: Now I am in school and studying and I plan to become a health coach. I socialise with my friends and family and I love exercising - especially running and strength training. That is my passion in life. I write alot and love baking and eating! I am generally very happy and love how my life is!!
The purpose I had for this blog is to let the reader realize all the things or events that are behind a girl with anorexia nervosa and also for the reader to see that there are some girls that recover, like Izzy, who was very brave and battled against this horrible disease which many girls around the world have and they are caused by many things like bullying or probably, I don't know, seeing TV stars with the perfect body and they just want to be like them and maybe someday, size 0.
Did you know that right now in the United States 10 million women are battling anorexia or bulimia? Did you know that 80% of all 10 years old are afraid of being fat? Or that 45% of 1st to 3rd grade girls want to be skinnier? Or did you know that anorexia is the third most common chronic illness among adolescents?
Maybe you didn't know all of this, but now that you know you understand that eating disorders are illnesses that millions of people have to face everyday and this could destroy them and led them even to suicide attempts.
For this blog post I decided not to only write about what I think about eating disorders because it would be kind of boring, I wanted to make this blog post a little different than the others and more special, I did a research and got the opportunity to communicate with a girl who had several struggles in her life and after everything that happened to her she is now living her life happily and the way she wants to. I will call her Izzy because that's the name she uses to introduce herself, I will only post the questions I did to her and her answers, but you can visit her blog http://living-with-anorexia.blogspot.com which is very interesting!
Me: First of all, what is anorexia nervosa?
Izzy: Anorexia is the eating disorder/mental illness where the person doesn't eat enough to sustain their body weight and see's themselevs as fat even though they are underweight. Also, anxiety and compulsion are often tied to eating and other areas in the persons life.
Me: What events in your life led you into anorexia nervosa?
Izzy: Its hard to know why I became sick, but I think it was because I wanted control over my life. I have another illness which made me very sick alot of the time. And I spent alot of time in hospital and taking different medication. Also, my parents are split up so every weekend my sister and I would travel to our dad's place. And when I was around 11, and began a new school I was very self conscious, had very lows self esteem and got easily stressed in school. So all of that combined lead me to controlling my food as a way to control my life.
Me: I read you self harmed, why did you do it?
Izzy: I had alot of anxiety, over food, weight gain, body image, my family, friends, my life, etc. And it was a way for me to cope especially when I had alot of anxiety. Instead of feeling all the mental pain, I would feel the physical pain instead.
Me: Did you suffered of bullying at school?
Izzy: No, I was never bullied in school.
Me: When you saw yourself in the mirror so skinny were you happy and proud? Or how did you felt?
Izzy: I never felt skinny whenever I looked in the mirror. I used to take alot of pictures of myself... to see if I was skinny or not. But I always saw myself at fat. There where times when I did see that i was skinny, but never too skinny. I never really accepted that I had an eating disorder, I knew I wasnt normal but I didnt think I was sick either. I never felt proud of myself, as i just wanted to lose more weight.
Me: Who was the person that more support gave to you in those difficult moments you had?
Izzy: My mum was my main supporter when I was sick. I lost alot of contacts with friends and with family while I was sick. But my mum was always there for me. But there came a time when I was too sick and she couldn't be around me. And I spent alot of time, on my own in hospital.
Me: How were your years at the treatment centers?
Izzy: They were difficult. I spent a total of 1,5 years in different treatment centres. There was alot of anxiety, tears, arguing, panic involved in being in treatment. I was forced to do things and eat things which I didn't want to but in the end they saved my life. Because I dont think I would have been able to recover without being in treatment.
Me: By your blog you express yourself, why did you decided to tell the world about the struggles you had years ago?
Izzy: Well I started blogging as a way to express myself. To let out my thoughts and emotions and write when I had anxiety. I have always found it very difficult to talk about how I am feeling. So instead I wrote. I never expected to have so many readers or followers. At the time it was just my online diary, but as I began to recover and finally was recovered I realized that i could help others and inspire others in the same situation so I carried on blogging.
Me: Describe your life while you had anorexia, how were your days?
Izzy: My days were filled with anxiety and panic. The times that I was at home - not in treatment. I would starve myself, exercise for hours, self harm and if I did eat anything I would purge. And then the days that I was in treatment, there would still be alot of anxiety and panic over eating. But I would be made to eat all my meals - 6 times a day. And would spend my whole day sitting in the living room of the treatment centre with all the other patients. While I was sick, I was always tired, cold and felt angry. I was very depressed and had no hope or will to live. I often thought about suicide, and have attempted it twice. I felt alot of anger towards myself and to the people around me... I was often sad and never smiled. I got anxiety about eating, about gaining weight, about my future and alot of other things. It was a very miserable place, and its hard to imagine that i lived like that for 4 years...
Me: How do you feel about yourself right now?
Izzy: Now I am happy. I love how my body looks and I love my life. I have learnt to accept myself just the way I am and have found coping skills for when i feel anxious or get too stressed.
Me: Now that you are healthy and safe from anorexia, what is a message you send to girls out there that are having struggles and eating disorders?
Izzy: To know that recovery is possible. I have been at the absolute bottom, but have fought myself to the top. You just have to want it. You have to fight, step outside of your comfort zone. Fight the voice in your head. It's tough to recover, but it is worth it. To get your life back, to feel happy again and to be able to live your life the way you want. And one thing to think about is that if you arent recovering from your eating disorder, you are dying from it.
Me: Describe how is your life now after 5 years of sickness.
Izzy: Now I am in school and studying and I plan to become a health coach. I socialise with my friends and family and I love exercising - especially running and strength training. That is my passion in life. I write alot and love baking and eating! I am generally very happy and love how my life is!!
The purpose I had for this blog is to let the reader realize all the things or events that are behind a girl with anorexia nervosa and also for the reader to see that there are some girls that recover, like Izzy, who was very brave and battled against this horrible disease which many girls around the world have and they are caused by many things like bullying or probably, I don't know, seeing TV stars with the perfect body and they just want to be like them and maybe someday, size 0.