I travelled by train instead of car on Christmas Day 2024. Instead of the usual two-and-a-half hour drive to the home of my children’s dad, George, in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs, I took the country train. On Christmas Eve, in a burst of planning, my Melbourne-based daughter and her family collected...
Help shape the future of an unpublished book about recovery from anorexia A new study run by Oxford University researchers is investigating the effects of reading a memoir about recovery from anorexia prior to publication. Key points: Existing findings on bibliotherapy for eating disorders suggest potential for significant help and...
by June Alexander I don’t need to read research papers to know that pets are good for me. For me and many others, animals contribute to feelings of well-being. They teach about love and living in the moment. They are a best buddy in coping with illness, relationship breakups, grief,...
Eating disorder conferences — what purpose do they serve? Increasingly, they are becoming a sounding board for stories of recovery and ongoing healing. Right now I am returning home from the 26th international conference on eating disorders, convened by the Academy for Eating Disorders (AED). This year, more than 1400...
A pamphlet attached to the noticeboard outside the school principal’s office caught my eye. The year was 1967 and I was 16. The words “essay,” “scholarship,” “USA,” drew me in. The American Field Service was offering scholarships to students to study the senior year of school in the United States....
Twenty minutes a day is all it takes. Writing in your diary for 20 minutes each day can help you to feel in control of your life. You can write in your diary anywhere, at any time of the day. You can use pen or paper, a tablet or even...
“FOOD. I HATE IT. I would like to start being kind to myself. And not punish myself with food anymore. To me food is like a cancer, its tentacles reaching into and clawing at my emotions, my feelings, my thoughts, never giving a moment’s respite. I HATE IT. Every decision...
I was a grandmother when I “came out.” The event, in 2007, was a private girls’ school information night. Until then I had lived a part-life, struggling to appear “normal” to the outside world, while battling a private, inner hell as a captive of an eating disorder. Coming out and...
by June Alexander Be the Master of your Ship: Journeying through an Eating Disorder … I am the master of my ship. I am in control. Yet, all too soon, it feels so wrong … … Yet, I can still choose. ...
by June Alexander Each New Year’s Day for many years I created a list of resolutions. The lead resolution always was: “Eat three meals and three snacks daily.” Sounds good and easy, but I always shattered this resolution within hours. Making an annual resolution about food when you have an...
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