Posts Tagged ‘mental health’

What would you say if you learned a chronic illness was spreading silently through the population, affecting some of the country’s best and brightest people? Hospital beds are scarce, waiting lists are growing longer, and people are getting sicker. Some..

Ask me no questions, I will tell you no lies. I am honest, trustworthy, loyal and fair. However, a part of me lurks in the shadows. A part of me that I try not to release and remain terrified that..

“Out of your vulnerabilities will come your strength.”  Sigmund Freud A series of events inspired me to write A Dangerous Daughter. Firstly, in 2015, I was invited to take part in an international study on eating disorders, the Anorexia Nervosa..

Pent up in my room, I contemplated the screen. Words failed me, and I felt consumed by an incessant writer’s block. Deprived and malnourished, my stomach ached, and my head was abuzz with a low, cyclical thrum of throbbing that..

Our next generation of young people are highly concerned about their body image. In fact, one in three 15-19-year-olds in Australia are “very” or “extremely concerned” (Tiller et al., 2020). Body image concerns are the major risk factor for the..

“You are looking well today.” My aunt’s words became frozen in time. As a 13-year-old with anorexia nervosa, my brain sprang to high alert. Thoughts raged: “I’m fat. I look horrible. I must eat less.” Recovery roared in reverse. That..

Too often, our words and behaviours become lost in translation and the eating disorder (ED) wins every time. Our diary provides a place to record our truth when no-one will listen. The Hidden Face of Anorexia  … This illness has..

Flaws in our public health system* are creating havoc in the lives of people with eating disorders (EDs). I am a mentor for Shelley**, who is in her 40s, and lives in a country town in Australia. Shelley has diagnoses..

In October 2014, at age 31, I achieved the award that marked the pinnacle of my fitness competition career: the coveted Bikini Athlete Pro Card. Standing onstage in a Hertfordshire theatre, smiling for the winner’s photographs, I appeared the epitome..