Category: mental health

I reached for the phone. I was ready to accept the guidance of my minister and psychiatrist so I could become a person with normal behavioural habits. ‘I will go to the mental health hospital this Sunday,’ I vowed. ‘If I don’t go I will defer my recovery. I want...

Family Based Treatment is the best, evidence-based approach for most children and adolescents to get their life back on track when they develop an eating disorder – particularly anorexia nervosa. But what about those of us whose eating disorders developed before Family Based Treatment (FBT) became an option? Or those...

BMI or Body Mass Index is a term used frequently when discussing the health and weight management of humans. It appears in medical charts, insurance statistics and weight loss programs. People are judged by it constantly, sight unseen. In her book, “You just need to lose weight” and 19 Other...

Exercise is good, but excessive or compulsive exercise can be dangerous. At age 13, Kristen embraced the outdoors and enjoyed cross-country running at school. She was not overweight, had never been a big eater, ate little junk food and was not concerned about her body image, but she did want...

Almost a year has passed since Summer was diagnosed with her eating disorder (ED). I glimpse signs of recovery more often, but sometimes, we get thrown back into the darkness. The darkness doesn’t last as long now, though, before hope reappears. I know hope is always there despite being hard...

Until a few months ago, my diaries and I had been inseparable for more than 60 years. We had stuck together despite moving house more than 24 times in my search for peace within. Never a day apart. The diaries were my one constant from age 12. They were my...

I have suffered from an eating disorder (ED) for 18 years, and I don’t know how to break free … I would like you to share strategies for those times when my ED is the only thing I can hear.  – M. I want to reach through the email box,...

If I had not realised I am Autistic and received an official diagnosis, I would likely be dead – “or worse, expelled!” My anorexia nervosa was fuelled by a deep and desperate yearning to be thin. This yearning was partially driven by knowing that, in our fat-phobic society, being thin...

As a life-writing mentor, I offer guidance in transforming your life experiences into a tangible memoir. You write your truth, crafting your story in your unique voice. This form of self-expression is a precious gift to yourself and your loved ones. Writing a memoir is not just a healing and...

I sat on the dense wooden palings that ran along the front of the beach. I sat without a care in the world. Just me and the universe and the video camera, a truly perfect combination. It was 1999. I was rocking a bowl-cut, baggy track pants, an oversized hoodie...