Oh Sh*t – there it is!!
That was exactly my thoughts the 1st time ‘my story’ was ever shared.
In 2012, my story was published in the Evening Express.
Middle page – double spread.
There was me, front and centre.
As well as a picture of my sister and I and another picture of when I received my 1st ever business award in London.
‘Yup, you did it Lee – there’s going back!!’
When you share something incredibly personal that you’ve purposefully kept secret not only from the world but also loved ones.
It’s a very uneasy and awkward feeling.
I remember wanting to crawl under a rock, worrying about what people would think and how they would judge me.
People that I knew who would read the paper.
They would now all know my eating disorder ‘secret’.
Then I reminded myself the reason WHY I was sharing it.
And after the flood of positive responses from both those who did and didn’t suffer from eating disorders.
I knew I’d made the right decision.
Over the years, it still feels ‘a little weird’ sharing it but the secrecy and stigma which gave my eating disorder power no longer exists!
Today marks the beginning of Eating Disorders Awareness Week 2022.
Each year, there’s a different topic covered and this year it’s the lack of training doctors get on eating disorders.
On average, doctors receive less than 2 hours training on eating disorders throughout their entire medical career.
1 in 5 UK medical schools don’t provide any training on eating disorders at all.
Considering 1 in 50 people living in the UK have an eating disorder, a serious mental health issue, it’s incomprehensible that such little time or training is given to support people suffering from them.
However, hopefully after an open letter from BEAT to these medical schools and with enough signatures, it can help create some kind of change.
If you’d like to sign the open letter and show your support:
BEAT is the UK’s leading eating disorder charity which does incredible work all year round not only supporting sufferers but also friends and relatives of those with eating disorders.
You can find them on Instagram and Facebook.
You can also find more information on their website.
Recovery from an eating disorder can be a long and extremely challenging process.
However, after winning my 15 year battle with bulimia and turning my life around, I hope it can help anyone who is suffering and reading this realise that recovery is possible.
If I can change….you can change.
It may be the hardest, however the 1st stage of recovery is reaching out for help.
Whether you talk to a friend/family member or get in touch with BEAT, brave that 1st step – you don’t have to go through it alone.
Lee ‘raising awareness’ Donald x
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