Category: Recovery Journey

Before my illness, I was happy and healthy. I started to feel unwell in 2016 when I was 13 years old. My cognitive skills deteriorated, my physical health deteriorated, and I needed support to walk. I became incontinent, and soon I had all my abilities taken away from me. I...

Curating almost 900 posts into themed e-books you can keep close If you’ve been with me a while—some of you since 2008—you know Life Stories Diary has grown into a gathering place: for people living with eating disorders, for families and health professionals, for life story writing, and for anyone...

It is surprising how life can change. A storm, a diagnosis. Two years ago, I was driving on the motorway, torrential rain pouring down, making it hard to see anything. Summer and I were on our way home, following a specialist’s appointment, trying to figure out what was going on...

Why this relationship matters There are many kinds of relationships that steady a life: family, friends, cherished companions (including the furry ones). Then there are the few who become anchors for the work we feel called to do. For almost two decades, Professor Daniel Le Grange has been one of...

Home sweet home. The suitcase and backpack are back on their shelf; a Japanese cat magnet grins on the fridge. The weeping cherry in the front garden is bursting into blossom, and the cats—fresh from their holiday at the Cat Cave—are auditioning for extra snacks. Travel expands me, yes—and coming...

For many years, anorexia was my protector. For many years, from age 11, I did not know I had an illness called anorexia. I mean, I thought I was me. Period. Sure, I’d been feeling very anxious about things happening around me; things beyond my control. And then what seemed...

For almost 20 years, I have sat down each week to write about eating disorders. I have written about the havoc they cause in minds, bodies, families, and communities. I have shared research, explained treatments, told stories of courage, survival, relapse, and resilience. I have laid bare my own lived...

In late 2023, I had a dream: to create a global meeting place for anyone and everyone working toward a better understanding and care for eating disorders. Together with my team, that dream has come to life as CoRe-ED – the Consortium for Research in Eating Disorders  – and I’m...

There was a time when I didn’t know who I was. Not really. Not in the way that lets you walk into a room, make a choice, or even sit with your own thoughts and trust that they’re truly yours. Anorexia nervosa took hold of me when I was 11...

Professor Kim’s reply had arrived in my inbox the previous evening, but I couldn’t bring myself to open it right away. When I opened it the next morning at my desk, I felt relieved. Prof. Kim wrote: It feels like [the eating disorders field is] several decades behind compared to...