A Thank You to Those Who Believed in Me During Eating Disorder Recovery
The last few years have been a roller coaster ride. Struggling with mental health problems is so hard. You may feel isolated, alone, unsafe, miserable, worthless. You may shut away from people around you, but you probably want someone to help you so badly.
Thank you to the person who noticed and stuck by me.
Thank you to my best friend who picked up the phone every night when I was three hours away in a mental hospital crying over my calorie intake. Thank you to my mum who wrote me a card on a hard morning saying I am beautiful and that she is proud of me. Thank you to my teacher who sent me an email saying she was so amazed by how far I have come. Thank you to my therapist who said she believed I could get better when I cried and said I couldn’t see the light.
I don’t think people realize how much small actions can make somebody feel so loved and make such a positive influence on someone’s recovery. How having a letter from a friend reach me on Valentine’s Day gave me the strength to complete snack that day. How being given a hug by a friend after weigh day was the most comforting feeling.
Through my recovery I have had people leave, join and stay with me. Just knowing my own journey, I can see why people left and I acknowledge that you felt you couldn’t do more to help. Thank you to those I met on my journey and who supported me to the light at the end of the tunnel. And most of all thank you to those who stayed, those who held me when my body was shaking from anxiety, those who witnessed the diagnosis and the discharge. Those who knew one day things would get better, and did. Those people who told me they could picture me at university in the future, those people who could see me traveling around the world being truly independent. Thank you to those who believed in me even when I couldn’t myself. You are so important to me even if I don’t tell you that often enough.
The people who stuck by me saved my life. You were my motivations, my hope and my inspirations. Thank you, thank you for helping me on the journey to be me again.
If you or someone you know is struggling with an eating disorder, you can call the National Eating Disorders Association Helpline at 1-800-931-2237.
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Thinkstock photo by CherriesJD