Raising awareness in action!

Today is the 7th and final day of Eating Disorders Awareness week! 

And for the last day of this awareness week, I finally managed to post something on my personal instagram! (didn't manage Facebook because way more people follow me, but I'm proud I managed something at least.)

I had to cut down what I wrote below so it wouldn't go over the max words it would post, but I thought I'd post the longer version on here.

Today is the last day of Eating Disorders Awareness Week 2014, and I have finally plucked up the courage to post something about it. I feel physically sick posting this, but I am determined to raise awareness and break stigma about eating disorders, so I'm doing it anyway.

But why should I be ashamed; why should I hide it? 

If I had broken my leg I wouldn't be afraid to tell someone, so why should eating disorders be any different? They shouldn't.

I was diagnosed with anorexia nervosa on the 9th May 2013, and I've been at the Priory for 4 months recovering from it. It is only with their help and huge amounts of support and encouragement from my family and few close friends that I've nearly beat it.

Last year was hell. At my worst I was so cold all the time, I couldn't focus on conversations at all, I fell behind at school and felt weak and tired. I'm just thankful my parents spotted it before it got any worse or went on for any longer.

You don't "choose" to have an eating disorder.

It starts off as an innocent idea to eat healthily and stop eating so much chocolate etc, but before you know it it can spiral out of control and become a full-blown eating disorder. 

Anorexia isn't just "being skinny". It's in your head; you can't concentrate on anything except food, exercise, calories and body image. You lose everything: your friends, your happiness, your health. And no matter how thin you get, you will never be happy with your appearance. You don't see yourself how you really are, your perception becomes warped and wrong. People with eating disorders aren't "attention seeking", they don't want the illness any more than any other person. It's hard to recover from when you're in the grips of the illness, no matter how hard you try. But it is possible.

Also, just because you see yourself as bigger than you actually are, does not mean that you think everyone else who are normal sizes are fat; it doesn't work like that.

You don't have to be thin to have an eating disorder either; it's a mental health condition, and being underweight or overweight are just physical consequences/ symptoms of it.

Eating disorders can come about for all sorts of reasons, but often they are caused by stress and feeling out of control of your life. People turn to food as a way of coping, and it is so easy to fall into the grips of an eating disorder. But they only create more problems- and need lots of help and support to overcome.

If you think you know someone suffering from an eating disorder, tell someone about it. You might just save their life.

* * *

And you know what? So far I haven't had a single mean comment for it, and quite a few people had like the photo which means they must support it, so it was worth it after all. I've also had a few really lovely comments- even from people I hardly know! That makes me so happy.

Hope you all had a good Eating Disorders Awareness Week 2014,

Hannah xox

Attitude Towards The Past

Today is day 5 of Eating Disorders Awareness Week 2014.
(It's gone by so quickly!)

Before when I looked back at the past, I saw only the bad things that I had done and the people I had upset. Instead of thinking "Well, I just have to move forwards from this and learn from my mistakes", which would be the logical and healthier attitude towards it, I would think, "I have done so many bad things in my life, and I deserve the same pain back so I should punish myself. I was mean and therefore I do not deserve happiness". But that is wrong. Everyone deserves happiness. Yes, everyone will feel sad at points in their life, but at the same time, you should also experience happiness.

"Don't let the sadness of your past and the fear of your future take away from the happiness of your present"

Image via here.

Without sadness you cannot truly feel happiness, so yes- to a certain extent everyone is sad at some point and that isn't a bad thing.

You have the right to feel any emotion; no matter how silly or stupid you think your emotion is, you are allowed to feel like that, and it is much better to accept how you are feeling and learn how to deal with it and move on, than not accept it and struggle to ever let yourself feel emotions.

I think partly my eating disorder developed as a way of punishing myself. And now that I've had therapy and learnt to understand mental health and recovery better, I have no realised that punishing myself won't change anything; It will only leave me to regret more things about my past.

Instead of regretting having an eating disorder, I am thankful for all I have learnt from it, and the people I may be able to help with my experience.

There is always a positive and a negative way of looking at every situation, and I think it's time I started focusing on the positive, and that's my tip for anyone reading this post too.

So, instead of judging your past, take a deep breath, and let go.
It's never too late to start again and become that person you've always wanted to be.

Hannah xox

What is normal eating?

Today is day 4 of Eating Disorders Awareness Week 2014.

I think many people suffer from forms of disordered eating, even if it does not affect them in such a way as eating disorders such as anorexia.

Eating Disorders Awareness Week is also about promoting a healthy attitude towards food. The question is, what is 'normal' eating?

In the adolescent eating disorders unit I go to, we do a group called food and me, and today we learnt what 'normal' eating was, so I thought I'd share it with you.

They are only my brief notes, but I hope this helps give a perspective on what a healthy attitude towards food is, and maybe even help you spot signs of disordered eating in yourself or your friends/family if they are the opposite of some of the points.

One point I forgot to add on this was that people who eat in a healthy manner do not avoid particular food groups, they eat a healthy balance of all of them and do not think too deeply about what food/ food group it is that they are eating.

I hope this helps, and if anyone wants me to expand on this please comment below or email myjourneywithrecovery@gmail.com

Stay strong and raise awareness and promote healthy eating!

Hannah xox

Fundraising for Eating Disorders Awareness Week

Today is day 3 of Eating Disorders Awareness Week 2014.

As well as raising awareness, I think this week would be a good time to raise money for eating disorder charities such as "beat" in the UK, and "NEDA" in the USA.

But the question is, "what can I do to raise money?"

So I thought I'd list a few quick ideas to get your creative juices flowing!

* * *

Things you could do to raise money :

• Friendship bracelt/ bracelet or jewlllery making and selling
• Painting nails/ Makeovers/ Doing hair
• Cake sale (yes it is ironic, but as a school or class it is still a good thing to do, and is always guaranteed to make money!)
• Ask your school to make events/ do an assembly etc.
• Sell handmade cards or crafts
  etc.

Even doing chores around the house to earn some money and donating it contributes- and even if it isn't a lot, it does add up of everyone does it.

* * *

Our fundraising efforts! :

Here are some posters we made at the inpatient and day patient adolescent eating disorders unit I go to, advertising Eating Disorders Awareness Week and the things we have planned for fundraising:

Have fun, and go on and raise awareness and some money if you can.

If you do anything to raise money and want to be featured on this blog, please email me on myjourneywithrecovery@gmail.com - I would absolutely LOVE to hear from you!

Hannah xox

It's Time to Talk

Today is day 2 of Eating Disorders Awareness Week 2014.

Eating disorders, and all mental health issues to be honest, are rarely talked about in everyday conversation.

People who aren't sufferes are afraid to ask and usually don't understand due to the lack of education surrounding mental health issues; and people who have eating disorders or other mental health issues are afraid to speak out about their illness.

The way mental health illnesses are viewed in society needs to change, as people are afraid to admit they have a mental health issue and many do not recover help because of this. Also, due to the lack of knowledge surrounding eating disorders and mental health issues, many don't even realise themselves that they are ill.

My school (I won't say the name), is a private all girls school, and eating disorders are 3 to 4 times more likely there than a mixed state school.
Yet my school hasn't done a single thing for Eatring Disorders Awareness Week. No posters, no assemblies, nothing. And there are so many people in our school struggling with eating disorders, and they know that and yet still do nothing! They want to be in their perfect little bubble and pretend they don't exist. But they do exist, and not talking about it doesn't make the problem go away. It only makes it worse.

Mental health issues need to be talked about. It is nothing to be ashamed of and should not be a "taboo" subject.

Image via here.

If you asked someone with a mental health issue how they were getting on, even if they didn't want to talk, they would still appreciate the gesture.

I know myself that if people asked me about it, I would happily talk to them just like a normal conversation. Unfortunately it isn't like that.
- I still haven't plucked up the courage to write a post about Eating Disorders Awareness Week on my Facebook or Instagram, and my cousins still don't know so I can hardly post it on social media when I know they will see!

I wish I could tell people without them juding me. That is why this week is so, so important.

Please keep spreading the word, and talk about it! There is nothing wrong with asking questions or being curious about it- it isn't easy to understand, true; but if you ask someone who either has an eating disorder or knows someone who does, I'm sure you'll soon have a better understanding and therefore be able to be there for people in the future etc.

Stay strong, and raise awareness!

Hannah xox

Numbers don't matter

"A good decision is based on knowledge,

not on numbers."  - Plato

Hannah xox 

Eating Disorders Awareness Week 2014

This week commencing on the 24th of February to the 2nd of March 2014 is Eating Disorders Awareness Week.

It's a chance to raise awareness and break stigma surrounding eating disorders- something that very much needs doing in our society today.

* * *

Eating disorders are hidden away from the world; people who have them are ashamed of them, and people who hear of them think that anorexia is just being "skinny". That couldn't be more wrong.

Anorexia is a full-blown mental illness that effects not only your body,
but your mind too.
You don't just lose weight; you lose your friends, your life, and yourself too.

When people say "eating disorder", there is almost a physical gasp of breath as people respond. They think people with eating disorders are some kind of alien. But they're wrong. Anyone can be effected by an eating disorder: boys and girls, young and old, any culture. There is no set type of person who gets an eating disorder.
They can effect anyone.

* * *

If someone broke their leg they wouldn't hesitate to tell people. Why should it be any different for mental health?

Having an eating disorder doesn't make you an alien, it doesn't make you a bad person. It's just like any other illness- it isn't the person's fault. No one "chooses" an eating disorder, and just like people don't choose to get it, people can't choose to just "snap out of it". Just like having a broken bone, it requires intensive support and care from people around you to get better.

So that brings me on to places that can help with eating disorders, offer support for those who know someone suffering from an eating disorder, and what to do if you think you either have an eating disorder yourself, or think you know someone who has.

Image via here.

Image via here.

Above is the Beat (Beat Eating Disorders) logo and campaign for eating is orders awareness well: "sock it for eating disorders". 

To visit beat, the link is below:
www.b-eat.co.uk

*  *  *

Another common misconception is that society assumes that people with eating disorders are underweight and skeletal.
- Wrong; Anyone of any size can have an eating disorder.

As well as notoriously known "anorexia" (more specifically in categories of anorexia nervosa, anorexia orthodoxia, anorexia athletica, anorexia binge and purge subtype, and atypical anorexia), there is BED (binge eating disorder), bulimia, and EDNOS (eating disorder not otherwise specified).

People of all different shapes and sizes have eating disorders. You don't need to be underweight or thin to have an eating disorder!

In fact, this stereotypical image is preventing people from realising they have an eating disorder and getting help. You can still do serious damage to your body whether you are underweight or not; malnourishment is a serious issue no matter what your weight.

That's why this week is so important in raising awareness. If we break this stereotypical image, then we will be helping our generation and generations to come.

Educating people on eating disorders is important, almost just as important as having services available to everyone for eating disorders. 

 *  *  *

We should not be made by society to live in shame of our issues, afraid to speak out and seek help.

Image via here.

So let's be brave, let's speak out for eating disorders.

It's been so hard for me to tell people about my eating disorder, and even some of my closest family still don't know because I don't want them to be upset or treat me differently. But it shouldn't be like this, it shouldn't be this hard and misunderstood.

If we speak out about eating disorders and what they're really like, we can change the way society view eating disorders. And our next generation will thank us for it.

I'll try to post each day this week for Eating Disorders Awareness Week. If anybody has any suggestions, questions, photos/ stories of things they have done for the E D Awareness Week, or would like to do a guest post on this blog, please contact: myjourneywithrecovery@gmail.com

Stay strong and break stigma for Eating Disorders  Awareness Week 2014.

Thank you for reading, 

Hannah xox