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I had anorexia nervosa for 3 months at the end of year 12.

Classes had finished for the year, and I was focussed on my academic achievement during the self-study period.  I felt immense pressure to achieve. I kept my focus on my studies trying to maintain a good study habit. Controlling what I ate, helped me to feel in control and it helped me to feel good about myself, when really I wasn’t okay.

I would stay at the library until midnight when the library closed in order to avoid the family meal and the eyes of my parents.  My day would start at 7:30am with a strict routine of a shower, and an apple ,which I would eat as I walked to the library. I would not leave until 1pm when I would return home for a small lunch which I forced myself to restrict then I would return to the library.

I lost weight rapidly, and I could hear my friends whisper about my ‘changed appearance’. But I didn’t recognise I needed help, in fact it felt like the reverse, I felt good about myself.

My mother really aided in my recovery. She provided positive feedback and encouraged me to eat a more balanced diet. Had she been negative or pressured me, I think I would have resisted her efforts. Recovering physically was as much about my psychological wellbeing as about my physical wellbeing.