05/14/2026
It’s mental health month, and there are some things I’d like you to know. Specifically, things I did NOT know when I was 18, that would have helped me.
Eating disorders are often forgotten in the conversation around mental health, perhaps because there is still so much stigma, or because we focus only on the medical side effects without looking at the entire picture and the mental health parts of the illness. Less than 6% of people with an eating disorder are medically underweight. I used to think that sickness had “a look”, and that if I didn’t look like I was starving on the outside, I didn’t need help on the inside.
I also thought this was a behavioral problem - that despite being a highly motivated, hard working, straight-A student, I was simply “too weak to make the right choices”. I couldn’t understand why I couldn’t just fix myself. Because I was ashamed and embarrassed that I couldn’t seem to get it together, I refused to talk about it with my loved ones and got sicker and sicker while my self worth plummeted and I hated the person I was becoming.
But eating disorders are NOT a choice. Believe me, nobody chooses this. What you DO get to choose, however, is how you take the next step, and if you allow people into your life to help you start your path to recovery. You don’t have to be alone in this! If I had known that this wasn’t my fault, that I didn’t do anything to deserve this mental illness, then maybe I would have talked about it with my family sooner. We need to bring eating disorders into the mental health conversation and make them ok to talk about.
When I got sick, I quickly lost hope; I thought this would now be how I lived my life forever. But recovery is possible - I am living proof of that! - and when we get the help we need quickly there’s actually a higher likelihood of recovery. So please, if you or someone you love is suffering, don’t wait. You deserve care and compassion and the chance to live a fully joyful, healthy life.
As always, grateful to the and my own amazing support system, and proud to be an ambassador for them. 🧡
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