Is that the disorder always wants more
More weight loss
To the point where sufferers become entangled in a twisted game of 'Who is the sickest?'
I've played this game
Many times
And no good can come if it
Being an addict
And having attended support groups
I have met many other girls like me
Who are cross addicted
And developed EDs as well as drug/alcohol addictions
Two girls in particular I became good friends with
We're we helping each other?
I'm not so sure
I know I measured my weight against theirs
One of the girls and I used to tell each other our weight
And I committed it to memory
And secretly tried to achieve a lower weight
They say that in regards to recovering
1/3 will recover
1/3 will live somewhere in between their disorder and recovery
And 1/3 will never recover
Those statistics ring true for me and my friends
One of us has recovered
One is still knee deep in the disorder
And one is somewhere in between the two
People with EDs
Often have the sense that they are not sick enough
And therefore don't deserve the title of 'anorectic'
Because there is always someone sicker or thinner than you
If you are admitted to inpatient
The Hunger Games become amplified
For me
Inpatient did not work
I found that being surrounded by other disordered people made recovery and weight gain nigh on impossible
I compared myself to other girls
What we weighed
What we ate
How much exercise we did
It was all a sick and twisted game
I just wasn't able to allow myself to gain weight in that situation
And have never completed treatment successfully
I've always done much better from home
With support of course
There is a kind of competition that comes with anorexia
We wear our bones like trophies on our bodies
We award ourselves with medals for the different milestones we achieve
Given the title of anorectic
Check
Underweight
Check
Seeing a counsellor
Check
Inpatient
Check
Inpatient especially has a kind of holy grail aura about it
Because we never believe we are sick enough
Being told you need to go in to inpatient is like being validated that yes you are sick enough to go to hospital or treatment
I know I spend much time worrying about the fact that I don't have an ED
Rather than the fact that I do have one
Although
Having said all that
One place that I don't feel a sense of competition
Is here on blogger
Why is that?
Probably because we get to see the real honest truth about what it's really like to live with a life threatening mental illness
The fear
The loneliness
The isolation
The depression and anxiety
The family issues
The never ending merry-go-round of recovery and relapse
It's clear from reading about people's lives here
That an ED is not what it would have you believe
Ive used this metaphor before
But I will use it again
An ED is like an abuser
It grooms you and lures you in with false promises of happiness and success
It paints a picture of what life will be like when you lose weight
You'll be lighter
Prettier
The smallest of all your friends
And of course it will tell you that thinner people are more popular
More liked and loved
Your boyfriend will be able to pick you up with no effort at all
You will wear anything you like
And look effortlessly beautiful
Oh yes
In return for your body
Your mind
Your sanity
And your soul
Anorexia will give you the life you always dreamed of
Hard to resist right?
Once anorexia lures you in
And you are now captive
Anorexia shows its true colours
And how evil it truly is
And once she is in your life
Life will never be the same again
Thus far
I've focused on anorexia
But of course there are other eating disorders
Unfortunately
They are not given the same status that anorexia is
Bulimia for example
Is widely considered to be anorexias less popular cousin
Having dealt with both
I know first hand that it is a lot more difficult to talk about bulimia
If anorexia is cold, controlled and aloof
Then bulimia is loud and brash and in your face
No one wants to admit that they throw up their food
It's messy
It's disgusting
It's not something that you talk about in polite company
I think people feel sorry for people with anorexia
And disgusted by people with bulimia
It's not a fair appraisal at all
Then there is binge eating disorder
And food addiction
Which must be even more difficult to talk about
Anorexia gets the most attention
That is for sure
Maybe because seeing an emaciated person is so shocking
Papers and magazines love a sensationalist story
With a shocking and disturbing picture to go with it
The same with obesity
But if you ask me
Anorexia and obesity are on the same spectrum
At opposite ends albeit
But it's the same problem
A problem with feelings
With reality
With ourselves
And of course with food
I have no doubt that I could easily become obese
My relationship with food can be so disordered that it is a very real possibility
As I have said before
I either eat none of the food
Or all of the food
There is no in between
There is no glory in being the sickest or the thinnest
In the end
Lives are torn apart as a result
And really
There are no winners
Only losers
I know all too well that our EDs will not be satisfied until we are six feet under
Death is the ultimate prize
There is no doubt
That eating disorders are complicated illnesses
Often we don't know why we are doing what we are doing
But we feel compelled to do it
God knows I am going through it right now
And it's a battle to get back on track
It's so important in recovery
To build a solid foundation on which to grow from
I think maybe that was my mistake
I didn't have a platform from which to flourish
My recovery happened very quickly
And almost in spite of myself
I think I started using the word recovery because I had gained weight
But then recovery really did happen
I did gain weight
My mood improved
My anxiety and depression lifted
But was it sustainable?
I'm not so sure
I think I need to start again
To take my time
And build up my recovery layer by layer
So that I have reserves
For when things turn sour
Like now
I am struggling to hold on to my recovery
My ED is screaming in my ears these days
I spoke to my family about it yesterday
For the first time
They are worried
As am I
I was stupid to think that I could lose a few pounds and stop there
I've lost too much weight in a very short space of time
My body is really suffering
As is my mental health
I'm thinking of ringing Mary and asking for a top up appointment
I've also reached out to friends
So I'm hoping to get back on track
With all that said
I was wondering about you
Have you ever been caught up in The Hunger Games?
Do you think that anorexia can become a game of who is the sickest?
What is your experience of this?
Answers on a post card please.....