Category: Dear Diary

advocacy More than edible–what is food to you?

More than edible–what is food to you?

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I’m unexpectedly underweight again. The 45-year-old me doesn’t want to expose my bare limbs to others’ eyes. This casual and comfy look I’ve long been attached to was something that emerged—and kept evolving—to protect myself from severe depression. When I started working as a novice account executive at an advertising...

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advocacy Becoming an Overcomer

Becoming an Overcomer

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I was born on January 1, 1968, with my feet turned backwards—a physical reminder of a drug that changed the course of thousands of lives. That drug was thalidomide. Thalidomide was introduced in the 1950s and early 1960s to help pregnant women with morning sickness. It was affordable, available without...

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advocacy Education is key to filling gaps in eating disorder care

Education is key to filling gaps in eating disorder care

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In this fifth post that June Alexander has adapted from Alykhan Asaria’s article on improving eating disorder care for underserved groups, three more underserved groups are discussed – socioeconomically and sociogeographically disadvantaged people, ethnic/racial minorities, and sexual/gender diverse people. Socioeconomically and sociogeographically disadvantaged people Access to adequate healthcare often depends on...

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advocacy Eating disorder diagnosis failing young and old

Eating disorder diagnosis failing young and old

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In this third post that June Alexander has adapted from Alykhan’s Asaria’s article on improving eating disorder care for underserved groups, three more underserved groups are discussed — younger children, people with under-recognised eating disorders, and people with higher weights. Younger children and pre-adolescents Children under 13, and by implication,...

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advocacy My Kid is Back!

My Kid is Back!

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With my co-author, Professor Daniel Le Grange, I’m delighted to announce the worldwide release of My Kid is Back, Second Edition. We thank families from Australia, the United States, the United Kingdom, and New Zealand for contributing to this new book’s powerful message about Family-Based Treatment (FBT), the most effective...

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advocacy Are you AI wary or a user?

Are you AI wary or a user?

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Have you become acquainted with Artificial Intelligence (AI) yet, or are you fearful of it? After initial hesitation, I decided to give it a go. My youngest son, Ben, who has always worked in Information Technology and is doing his Master’s in AI, said, “Get with it, Mum. AI is...

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advocacy “We need permission to live rather than to die”

“We need permission to live rather than to die”

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In the second post that June Alexander has adapted from Alykhan Asaria’s article on improving eating disorder care for underserved groups, the first of 12 underserved groups are discussed – people with longstanding eating disorders and older people with an eating disorder. Anecdotally, eating disorder (ED) sufferers are considered ‘older’...

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advocacy Navigating the vagaries of eating disorder recovery

Navigating the vagaries of eating disorder recovery

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Living with an eating disorder is hard, and recovery is everything but linear. Summer has been bravely battling anorexia nervosa since the fall of 2023. After much progress during the summer of 2024, Summer’s return to school dragged us back into the grim reality of dealing with an eating disorder...

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advocacy Improving access to and experiences of eating disorder care

Improving access to and experiences of eating disorder care

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In this first post that June Alexander has adapted from Alykhan Asaria’s article on improving eating disorder care, underserved groups and humanistic eating disorder care are discussed. This article on improving access to eating disorder (ED) care is informed by my lived experiences, independent research, and involvement in the underappreciated...

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advocacy The system won’t save us: Reflections from Korea’s EDAW 2025

The system won’t save us: Reflections from Korea’s EDAW 2025

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Korea’s Eating Disorder Awareness Week (EDAW) 2025 was a whirlwind. I lived like a ghost, confined to my room packed with boxed props. My resignation letter had been submitted to my full-time job. My focus was stretched thin across every detail of the daily sessions: ticketing, Instagram promotions, Google Meet...

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