TBT – Teen eating disorders: A personal story about the battle for control

February is Eating Disorders Awareness Month so today’s TBT post is one we posted in 2012, it is one individual’s battle with an eating disorder. Sadly the statistics show, even four years later, her battle is not unique…in the US, 20 million women and 10 million men suffer from a clinically significant eating disorder at some time in their life. A decade: that is how long I have been battling my eating disorder. I would like to say that is a long time, but according to everything I have read and what my therapist has told me I will be dealing with it the rest of my life… which I hope is long. You hear all these horror stories about rail thin girls dying in a pool of their vomit, but what about the girl in the cubicle next to you that seems to have it all together but who has been trying to be normal about food and her weight? I would argue that there are a lot more girls of the latter description. I know, because I am one of them. My senior year in high school was going well. I was headed to college and more importantly my parents were off my back and I had more freedom than ever. With this new-found freedom came control. Yes, it was awesome to be in control of things, but it was also daunting. It took me years to realize that this sense of lack of control was what started my eating disorder. How on earth was I going to manage being in college and being on my own? In my mind I couldn’t control this, but I could easily control my weight by choosing what...
Source: Disruptive Women in Health Care - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Advocacy TBT Source Type: blogs