Category: Issues

A silver lining of the COVID-19 pandemic, 2020-2021, was the gift of time to embark on the incredible journey of writing my memoir The Longest Match: Rallying to Defeat an Eating Disorder in Midlife. A project of this magnitude always seemed daunting but as soon as I began pouring through...

My eating disorder has gone to Canberra, Australia’s national capital. The eating disorder has travelled there within the pages of my diary collection, acquired by the National Library of Australia (NLA). There, the eating disorder will be open to public scrutiny. Canberra is an eight-hour road journey from where I...

A decade ago, my husband and I purchased an elliptical machine from a store that specialized in exercise equipment. The purchase price included a complementary session with a personal trainer. We took advantage of this offer, mostly to get some valuable pointers on how to use the machine and all...

Early responses to the call for family stories about experience with Family Based Treatment (FBT) for treatment of anorexia nervosa have been a revelation. I posted the call on my blog in October to invite first-person stories for the Second Edition of My Kid is Back – Empowering Parents to...

My first pregnancy was going beautifully…until it wasn’t. We were doing things in the traditional order: we married, bought our first house and, after nearly a year of trying, were expecting our first child. I was ecstatic. I had always looked forward to being a mother. After years of praying...

I am very grateful to June for allowing me to write this post, and I will be grateful to any of you who can assist me in finding a new job within the eating disorders field. Many of you know me from my work as the eating disorders librarian, but...

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...

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...

I love to participate in online eating disorder surveys, especially those inviting ‘lived experience’ to be shared. I haven’t always felt this way about sharing my illness story, so what has changed? Firstly, I have been with narrative mentor, Dr June Alexander, as a client for more than three years...