Category: Dear Diary

advocacy The enigma called ‘High-Functioning Anorexia’

The enigma called ‘High-Functioning Anorexia’

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In the late summer of 2017, when I unknowingly plunged back into anorexia, I was trying to live as a freelance translator. I’d just left the publishing company where I’d worked as an editor for a year and a half. In other words, I had stopped the office worker’s routine...

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Life Stories Diary Why I write

Why I write

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The point about writing is the belief that I have something to say that might help others see an issue more clearly, understand something in greater depth, and bring comfort to the broken and bereft. In my years of journalism, a cynical way of looking at what writing does is...

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Anorexia Breaking chains and building bridges for all of us

Breaking chains and building bridges for all of us

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At the age of 11, the earliest traces of my eating disorder (ED), specifically anorexia, started to emerge. A significant factor behind this struggle was my family environment. For most of my early life, I grew up with a half-sister, eight years younger than myself, and a single mother who...

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advocacy The importance of reframing ‘terminal anorexia nervosa’ as end-of-life care

The importance of reframing ‘terminal anorexia nervosa’ as end-of-life care

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Whether or not to define ‘terminal anorexia nervosa’ is being vigorously debated in the eating disorders field. In an article published in the Journal of Eating Disorders, August 25, 2023 edition, Andrea Phillipou writes: Although I disagree with the terminology of ‘terminal AN’ and believe that establishing criteria has the...

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Eating Disorders Look, listen and write – there are stories in everyday life

Look, listen and write – there are stories in everyday life

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Supermarkets are more than a place to purchase groceries. They are also a place to gather stories. And the extra good news is that these stories, which nourish our soul, are free. The stories won’t be found on shelves. They will be found in the aisles, in many shapes and...

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advocacy Welcome to Life Stories Diary

Welcome to Life Stories Diary

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The Diary Healer has transitioned to this new site with a new aim and a new name. Building on The Diary Healer’s accomplishments, lifestoriesdiary.com is here to encourage story-sharing and help you write your story. Are you one of the many people who say, ‘I will write my story one...

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advocacy Sharing our story gives others permission to share their story too

Sharing our story gives others permission to share their story too

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As I ‘came out’ and began to share my story publicly through my memoir, A Girl Called Tim (2011), an amazing thing happened. Shame, stigma, and secrets that had been the bane of my life for decades, were quelled. Rather than remain quiet, my diaries ‘came out’ too. For instance,...

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Dear Diary The story behind this website

The story behind this website

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The story behind this website began when I was 11 years’ old in 1962. Early that year, I developed an eating disorder but a gift of a diary at Christmas seemed to offer a reprieve and give me comfort and hope. Writing helped me to feel better. Words were like...

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memoir Online memoir writing classes provide benefits for all

Online memoir writing classes provide benefits for all

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Writing about one’s life is like walking along a gravelled country road, picking up a dusty stone, and giving it a good rub to reveal the gem within. Often all that’s needed is a bit of a dust-off, a sprinkling of self-belief and encouragement, and away we go. Especially when...

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advocacy How my diaries led to a memoir and finding Me

How my diaries led to a memoir and finding Me

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When I mentor clients in memoir writing, I explain this can be a three-stage process, depending on their goal. Stage One involves writing the first version of your story for yourself. This is the time to put everything on the table. Don’t hold back. Maybe there are repressed experiences that...

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