Eating Disorders

"Anorexia nervosa was never about wishing to be slimmer, for me it was about control. It first started with controlling how many sweets I ate, but eventually progressed to skipping meals. Things got worse when it came to A-levels and applying to vet schools as I felt even more out of control. When my Mum noticed I wasn’t eating she made us all sit down to family meals. This was ok at first as when I was out at school I could skip breakfast and lunch easily without any hassle from anyone but during the Easter holidays and after I had received rejections from Cambridge and Bristol I resorted to hiding food where I could and disposing of it later.

By this point I estimate I was surviving on minimal calories a day, my skin had started to deteriorate and I was getting pitifully thin, even fitting into my youngest sister’s clothes but I was really good now at acting as if I was eating enough. Mum was at her wits end and with a huge protest dragged me to the doctors. The doctors were at first confused as to how I was so thin whilst eating 3 meals a day so ordered all sorts of tests and after lots of negative results, Mum voiced her suspicions and the doctors referred me to a counsellor. At first I refused to admit I was ill, this put a lot of strain on life at home, with friends and also my boyfriend, resulting in me losing them. This caused me a lot of heartache as no one seemed to understand that all I wanted was control so eventually I talked; I poured my heart out about everything.

That was my turning point, after I admitted I had a problem, I could now get better. It was hard at first but once I got my acceptance into the RVC I felt that I had to get well enough to ensure I could earn my dream of becoming a vet. I am now quite a few years on from all this now but what I’ve learnt from my experience is to not take life too seriously and that help is always out there when you need it, you just need to be willing to accept it. If you’ve been affected by any of the issues raised by my story there are plenty of places to turn to; http://www.b-eat.co.uk/Home is a website dedicated to helping people beat eating disorders, they even have a helpline where you can talk to someone confidentially who can help advise you."

-Anon