Health: Eating Disorders - True Stories

James 18, Denver, CO
I can still remember my senior prom very well, because it was only last year about this time. I took my girlfriend, Amber, who I had been dating for about a year, and I was really excited because I had made reservations months before at this really fancy and expensive restaurant. Amber had spent the three months before prom on a “diet” in order to fit into her dress. I didn’t pay much attention to the fact that she was getting really skinny , but now that I look back on it all I can’t believe I didn’t realize something was wrong. I don’t think that I saw her eat more than crackers that entire three months. When the big night finally came we went to this amazing dinner and she ordered just a soup and salad, but I managed to convince her to go big since she was already in her dress with room to spare. She literally ate only one bite and said that she had filled up on bread, but I don’t remember her ever having a single piece! I was pissed! I had spent so long planning this and all I wanted was for her to enjoy the dinner.

I was recently looking back at my photos from that night and started to realize just how skinny she had gotten, and how terrible she looked. Her face was sunken and my friends all called her “the skeleton queen” (she was named prom queen). We broke up at the end of the school year and the last time I talked to her she was about to go to a special eating disorder center in Arizona. I'm really glad that she was able to admit she had a problem and I’m sorry that I didn’t recognize it sooner and try to help her.

Sara 19, San Francisco, CA
It started as a simple diet. I wanted to lose a few pounds before my Senior class trip to Mexico after high school graduation. I knew I would be spending a lot of time in a bathing suit and I didn’t want to feel self-conscious. The problem is that what started as vanity grew into obsession. I received so much positive praise from others like “oh my god, you lost weight you look great,” but all I heard was “you look good now but if you go back to the way you were before you will look bad.” I was deathly afraid of gaining weight and as a result I slowly restricted my diet more and more until I was only eating one small meal per day. By the end of my first semester in college my obsession with food and thinness took over my life. I stayed away from my friends because I never wanted to be around them during meal time. I even refused to attend my own mother’s birthday dinner because I was afraid I would have to eat “fattening food.” Not to mention the problems that this caused in my romantic relationships because I had completely lost my sex drive (a common side effect of anorexia). I was on a downward spiral. One night I sat up all night crying because I was so hungry but so scared to eat anything.

I decided that I did not want to live like that anymore and I sought help from a therapist who specialized in eating disorders. It took a lot of time, tears, and effort to get past my obsession with my weight and every day it gets a little easier. The best advice I can give someone who is going through this is to ask for help, even if it makes you feel ashamed. Trust me, you’ll be thankful in the long run.

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