The realisation that I had no control over the one thing I clung on to so tightly was my breaking point.

If the community isn’t making you stronger & helping you then it no longer serves a purpose in your recovery, but you have the power to change that.

What may help, & what aided me in my recovery, was personifying the eating disorder – I chose to give mine the deliberately reductive moniker 'ED'.

I cannot cut food out of my life cold turkey, but I can manage the situation now. And for me, that management came through honesty, openness and sharing.

I kept noticing all these small things that were building up over time, all the things that were indicating I was firmly on my way to recovery.

Recovery made me recognise how abnormal my mind and fears were to my family and the people trying to help me.

I know I have to make my secret public for my own recovery & for the sake of everyone else feeling trapped by the stigma of mental illnesses.

I don’t have an eating disorder. If you have an eating disorder you are skinny, you are a young girl, you have self-control.

This is a reminder to students that passing or failing exams isn't the end of the world. The most important thing is your health.

From realising I'd a problem to slowly nudging me to accept it as something I'd like to change, reading the experiences of others helped me seek support.

I will never forgive you for how you have muscled your way into my heart and soul, at a time when I am attempting to discover what belongs there.

Recovery is a seriously important thing – it’s difficult & takes time but it will improve. I know it doesn’t seem like it and it’s hard but you can do it.

Today, for the first time in years, I can almost picture what it will feel like to be fully recovered and I want it so badly.

You can’t really capture the essence of what an eating disorder feels like with words.

Please don’t give up. It will get better, I promise. It will get harder too, but it will also get better.

It's time we accepted our lives shouldn't be ruled by a number on a scale, or what clothing size we are but by what kind of person we are.

Fasting during Ramadan is advised only for those who are healthy. Those who are sick in any way or mentally unwell are exempt.

Now a Staff Nurse, I'm fortunate enough to be in a position to help others heal, cope with or pass away from various illnesses.

I’ll be celebrating the little things and being kind to myself. I’ll be patting my own back every time I can see something’s got slightly easier for me,

There was no significant traumatic event, no disruptive home life – in fact, on paper everything looked perfect and I should have been happy.