So I’ve been dreading
this week.
This week is Eating
Disorder awareness week, and I feel like I should do something for it. I should
write something inspiring and uplifting, yet I have felt slightly disconnected
from the whole event.
I’m also very wary about
what I write. This awareness week has seen me bitter and jealous, for
ridiculous reasons. I’m jealous of those able to preach from a low BMI.
Hear me
out.
It’s an easy thing to do, preach about recovery do’s and don’ts when you
are not following your own advice. I’m not sure where this jealousy had sprung
from, maybe it just comes from where my headspace is at the moment, but through
thinking this I realised, EDAW shouldn’t be triggering that sense in someone,
and it got me thinking. EDAW has too much emphasis on past reflections rather
then hope for the future. Too many horror/warning stories and not enough
RECOVERY and positive stories.
THIS post is not going
to be one of those reflective ones, I am not going to write about how bad I was
or wasn’t, how much treatment I did or didn’t need, how low my BMI did or
didn’t get. There will be no numbers, no ‘courageous’ before and after
pictures, we all know what anorexia looks like, we all know how the story goes,
I am more interested in telling people that IT CAN GET BETTER. That there is
HOPE, there is light at the end of the tunnel, there is LIFE.
This is my main
irritation of EDAW, people reflect and sometimes it seems like an excuse to let
their competitive side out, to show the world just how low they sank.
Personally I don’t care. I think its just as hard for anyone with an ED,
regardless of how low they got, to pull themselves out. Yes I know this illness
is very competitive, even writing this way is making me brain scream YOU NEED
TO PROVE YOU WERE ILL, but no I don’t need to prove myself to anyone. I
suffered, am suffering, and that’s all you need to know. All you need to know
is ANYONE can suffer, at ANY weight, age, gender ect.
So I urge you, this
week, if you are oblivious to the world of ED’s (I am first off very jealous of
you) but read up on it, if you suspect it in a friend, family member, work colleague,
reach out to them, let them know that they don't have to be alone.
If you are a sufferer,
let this week help you make some baby steps, because this week we are all challenging
ourselves together, you won’t be alone. Wear an item of clothing that you’ve
been avoiding, try a fear food, up your intake for a day, resist a behaviour,
talk to someone, and if you can’t talk to someone then hint, get the ball
rolling to reach out and let someone in, let someone help.
If you need a sign to
reach out and get help, well THIS IS IT, you deserve to get better, you
deserve to not be alone in this struggle, and I promise you, it will be worth
it.
And for those trying
to raise awareness…..lets do it by inspiring people to get better. Lets show
them what life beyond an eating disorder can look like. Lets give people the
most valuable thing that someone can give another sufferer……Hope.
Proof to
Hold.On.Pain.Ends
And just for good measure here is the film I took part in for EDAW 2013
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYZTNDoXfBw
No comments:
Post a Comment