"The help I have been receiving is invaluable"

I developed an eating disorder over the course of the pandemic and became very low and helpless. I thought I would have to live the way I did, restricting food and living with constant anxiety, for the rest of my life. Not only was my body slowly being destroyed without proper nutrition my life was too. My parents became worried sick and luckily got help from the local GP who assessed me. After tests and an ECG they found my heart rate was low and I was not well at all. The next week I attended an eating disorder clinic which honestly saved my life. I was given a meal plan as well as amazing support as I faced my fears around food and reenergised my body.

The pandemic took a devastating toll on my mental health and I’m sure only many others’ as well. I had too much time on my hands to critic myself and control something as my life spiralled into uncertainty. The help I am now receiving is slowly but surely opening my world again and   making me realise that life doesn’t have to be what my anxiety allows. Life is so much more than that and no one deserves the neglect an eating disorder throws at you.

I still have a long way to go but the support CAMHs provided me with is more than I ever could have asked for and is vital for my recovery. My world doesn’t seem so small anymore and I have been given hope that this blip is only temporary. I only wish that my body didn’t not have to face the turmoil it did before I got help and I hope those who are experiencing an eating disorder will reach out even if the media places stigma on the size you need to be to be ‘sick enough’.

I hope the services I was blessed with is available to those with all body types as your body weight does not determine the sincerity of your illness. The help I have been receiving is invaluable and I will forever be thankful to the health and social care services for saving me from the dark place that eating disorders transport you to. I feel so much better after receiving this help and although the anxious thoughts are still there they don’t feel so loud and unbearable. I hope that I control my life and not my eating disorder and food