Category: Families

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...

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...

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,...

An amazing depth of connection, awareness and self-discovery has evolved and blossomed through The Diary Healer blog since 2012. More than 500 first-person stories have been shared on the blog during this time. The archive of Diary Healer blogs has grown into a rich resource for anyone seeking information about...

There is something beautiful about simply existing. For a long time, I let myself forgo that; thinking of existence as something I had to earn. Or maybe it was not the fact of earning, but of proving my existence was more impactful than those around me. In my mind, it...

In February this year, I took unpaid leave from work to organize Korea’s first Eating Disorders Awareness Week (EDAW). Afterwards, I went straight back to work, but my employer was restructuring his business. This meant I could take a month’s paid rest before starting a new job. This period felt...

Have you ever felt ready to reset your priorities? I was feeling this way and now I am excited to share details of an upcoming change with you. The Diary Healer has shared personal stories of hope and awareness about eating disorders with many readers around the world since its...

Mirrors have been part of my life since puberty, when I started getting acne and wearing makeup. Mirrors didn’t rate before then. What a wonderful time that must have been! In my early 20s, a friend suggested I get a fun house mirror that made me look thinner (I frequently...

Hi Grandma, How’s your Darwin trip so far? This message from granddaughter Olivia, 13, comes when I’m in the Top End, Australia’s Northern Territory, about 4000kms from home in country Victoria. Olivia was born just prior to my memoir being published (see letter to Olivia in A Girl Called Tim)...

Almost three years have passed since I began to recover from anorexia nervosa. In July 2020, my 65th birthday was coming up and I could not remember a time without eating disorder thoughts and behaviors. Eating disorders are devious and sneaky; mine defied discovery for decades. Now I know better,...