Your Stories

My eating disorder, anorexia nervosa, started off in 2012 when I was at university. I was having flashbacks and nightmares; I felt very vulnerable.

Recovery must be your choice, the one you must make despite the eating disorder feeling like your only friend, this is not real, it’s an illusion, it’s all fake.

At school her best friend called her fat. She took up a measuring tape and that was that.

On 8 July 2019, the Victoria Derbyshire show discussed the state of eating disorder treatment and the importance of family empowerment. One parent whose daughter has been ill with anorexia for eight years shares her experience.

Since turning 30, I have come to realise just how much of my life has been wasted and controlled by my eating disorder.

I wake up each morning, I take a deep breath, I sit there and listen, To thoughts in my head.

I have been a digital volunteer for Beat for just over six months now and I can honestly say it is one of the most amazing things that I have ever done.

I imagine my journey as a Beat volunteer started similarly to many of my colleagues – having the difficult and unfortunate experience of encountering an eating disorder up close, in my case from a carer's perspective.

I wanted something positive to come out of the years of stress and struggle that we had and hoped that I could give hope and encouragement to another carer, which is what would have helped me when I was going through the worst times.

At Beat, there has never been any place for judgement nor lack of understanding, which has made each one of my volunteering shifts feel sincerely appreciated, acknowledged and, in a nutshell, special!

Rewind to a few years ago. On the surface, I was a happy 26-year-old who seemed to have her life all worked out... Yet underneath, I was coming up to my tenth year battling bulimia.

This young lady has an eating disorder and it's about time I stop being ashamed and hiding away.