Recovery IS Possible

Hi everyone and welcome to my column! :)

I am excited to be a part of Shannon?s Good News E-Newsletter and am looking forward to sharing with you my experiences with eating disorders, body image issues and depression ? and most importantly, my recovery!

I hated myself and my life for years. I cried almost every day. My body was in pain. My mind was in pain. I was a sad and lonely girl?constantly abusing my body, destroying my self-respect. Depression and self-hatred were a regular part of my life.

Most of the time I would spend in my room, alone?starving myself, binging or trying to get rid of what I had eaten. I was not living, I was just *existing*. And for the longest time, I thought that I was the ONLY person in the world who experienced this. For the longest time I did not even know that what I had had a name. I felt so alone and helpless. I was so embarrassed about my obsession with food, my body, my weight and calories that I did not tell ANYONE about what I was going through and how I was really doing.

Many nights I would cry myself to sleep, wondering if I was ever going to recover?or if there even was such a thing as ?recovery???

But I wanted to get better. I was sick of living this way. I was sick of my eating disorder and everything connected with it. I wanted to be FREE! I wanted to be happy and healthy again. And so I started searching for an answer, a way out.

And I found something, but it was NOT what I was looking for. I heard that full recovery does not exist and that one has to suffer with their eating disorder for the rest of their life.

However, I did not want to live with my eating disorder forever, so I made a choice not to believe what was out there. I chose to challenge this opinion. And once I opened up my mind to the thought that recovery was indeed possible, something changed?Suddenly, I discovered that there was a whole community of women and men who managed to fully recover and share their stories on their websites and in their autobiographies.

The stories of other women who managed to recover gave me hope. The main message that I got out of these stories was ? if they can recover, I can too!!!

These women were my heroes. I looked up to them and admired them for their achievement and also for their courage to openly and honestly talk about their eating disorder struggles and recovery. They were my role models, and one day, I wanted to be like them ? I wanted to share my eating disorder success story and inspire others to recover too.

Today, I am recovered. I am happy with my life. I see it as my mission to provide hope, help, comfort, and much needed support by sharing my story. I want you to know that you are not alone!

Recovery ? full recovery ? IS possible. I?m not just saying this because it ?sounds good?. I am saying this because I strongly and truly believe it. I am proof that it is possible!

And I am not the only one who managed to successfully recover from an eating disorder. I am not the exception to the rule. There are countless women and men who managed to successfully overcome their eating disorders... some of them struggled for two, five or ten years, and some for twenty or more years? it does not matter how long you suffer with your eating disorder, you are NOT a hopeless case. Recovery is possible for all of us!

But you must realize that recovery is something that happens within you and no one else. No one can recover for you, and there is also no magic recovery pill. But I strongly believe that we ALL have it in us what it takes to overcome our struggles.

Recovery is a process. It takes time. It does not happen overnight. Your eating disorder started years before you first binged, purged, or starved yourself ? and it will take time to overcome this disorder.

There is also no rule for how long it takes for someone to recover. We all have different stories to tell, different reasons why we developed our eating disorders, and we are all at different points in our lives. Please don?t put too much pressure on yourself. Be gentle on yourself.

There will be setbacks?.
But no matter what happens, do not give up!

I know how you feel. I know what it is like. I have been there! And I want you to know that this is not the end. Your life does NOT have to continue like this. There is a way out?there is help, there is hope and recovery IS possible. You can learn to love and enjoy your life again. Please stay strong and keep on believing in yourself! I know you can do it. I believe in you!

If you would like to submit a question or idea for a topic you would like to see addressed in a future edition, please send it to Shannon c/o Good News HERE