The following blog posts are written by people with personal experience of eating disorders. By talking openly, our bloggers hope to increase understanding around mental health, break stereotypes and take the taboo out of something that – like physical health – affects us all.

Eating disorders

An eating disorder is when someone has unhealthy thoughts, feelings and behaviour around food.

Some of us may struggle with our weight or bodies, experience cravings, or comfort eat, but someone with an eating disorder will become so worried about this that they are unable to think about anything else.

This can affect other areas of their life, such as relationships with family, friends and work. It will usually prevent them from making healthy decisions about their physical health too.

Personal stories about eating disorders

We have 87 stories on eating disorders

It’s important to use World Mental Health Day as a chance to tackle taboos and give people the opportunity to learn from others’ experiences, which may differ from their own.

People have put labels on me and made assumptions about my experiences

Sandeep

3 weeks ago

Like many young men, I was never told to talk about my problems – never mind anything about mental illness.

Stereotypes and stigma stopped me from talking about my eating disorder

Connor

8 months ago

“I was worried that my illness would be a barrier and try to break our friendship apart…but I was so wrong!”

See me as a whole person, not just my eating disorder

Kat

8 months ago

"My generation was made to believe that we had to stay strong, that we can’t accept weakness and that we must carry on.”

There is no reason to be ashamed of mental health

Laura

1 year ago

When I first returned to work, I didn’t know of any colleagues who experienced similar difficulties. It felt lonely and shameful.

Returning to work after my mental health problem was a challenge

Stacey

1 year ago

I wish I had talked to one of my friends about how I was feeling. Yet at the time, I felt embarrassed, ashamed and that I had let people down.

I was determined not to look like I was struggling

Lizzie

1 year ago

I still felt a sense of shame and embarrassment when confronting my eating disorder.

Everyone's experience of mental illness is unique

Ellie

1 year ago

When I first got told I had an eating disorder, I didn’t believe it. I thought you had to be skinny, overly skinny, to have one

Bringing binge eating disorder out from the shadows

Zoe

1 year ago

. If someone breaks their arm, everyone jumps to them to sign their cast. If someone has a mental health problem, people run because they think we’re unpredictable and strange.

I shouldn't have had to hide my mental illness

Vicki

1 year ago

I'm no longer ashamed of my eating disorder

Amy

1 year ago

Unlike the image of anorexia so often represented, I am a person of colour. Unlike the image of anorexia so often represented, I don’t look emaciated. - Nayena

Because I looked 'healthy' my eating disorder was dismissed

Nayena

1 year ago

I’ve been admitted to psychiatric units three times this year, and talking to the people close to me about my mental health has kept me going.

In times of crisis, talking about my mental health kept me going

Charlie

1 year ago

Those with mental illness don't need a quick fix. We need you to listen, to check in, to educate yourself, to accept this part of us.

Talking about mental health is only the beginning

Robyn

1 year ago

In some of my darkest days, a catch up at home or in a local coffee shop with a good friend is so helpful - Georgie

Talking about my mental illness changed my life

Georgie

1 year ago

No one would hesitate to see a doctor about a physical illness, so why is there so much shame around getting help for mental illness? - Paula

I get very little understanding when I talk about my mental health

Paula

1 year ago

Picture of blogger - Hope

Dumping the Scales will help fight the stigma around eating disorders!

Hope

2 years ago

Picture of the blogger, Tracey

Even professionals stigmatise personality disorders

Tracey

2 years ago

Picture of blogger: Hannah

Stigma often stops people seeking help for eating disorders

Hannah

2 years ago

"I certainly look fine. I’m no longer underweight. But that doesn’t mean the anorexia has gone away"

People didn't think a man in his thirties could have an eating disorder

Ian

2 years ago

Picture of blogger: Cara

Let's challenge the ‘typical eating disorder’ stereotype

Cara

2 years ago

Picture of blogger: Penny

People with mental illness are real people too

Penny

2 years ago

Picture of the author, Rose Anne

At school, I heard people talk about mental illness in a negative way

Rose Anne

2 years ago

“Even when my family didn't understand the ins-and-outs of eating disorders, they still stood by me. They listened to me.” – Michelle

My family and friends have supported me throughout my eating disorder

Michelle

3 years ago

I campaign to change mental health attitudes because no one should go through what I did

3 years ago

Blogger image

Being judged for my mental illness was so damaging

3 years ago

Picture of blogger

Anorexia is not a fad or glamorous

3 years ago

Blogger Hope

I am an eating disorder survivor and I am not ashamed

3 years ago

Your attitude towards eating disorders could make a big difference

3 years ago

Image of the author, Holly

I chose to speak up about my experience of eating disorders

4 years ago

Because of the beliefs I had about mental health, I hid more, I never spoke up or asked for help, I was ashamed. If only somebody could have seen, not my body or a number on the scales but what the illness was doing to my mind.

If only people did not believe the mental health stereotypes in the media

4 years ago

Kirsty - Break the stigma

Anorexia and anxiety are not always obvious

4 years ago

My family's shame stopped me getting help for my eating disorder

4 years ago

Blogger Melissa

Judging people with anorexia is NOT OK

4 years ago

Simple texts ‘how you doing?’, ‘you alright?’, made it so much easier for me to get back and be the person I used to be.

When I was diagnosed with generalised anxiety, I needed the people around me

4 years ago

Tackling stigma will help challenge the power of eating disorders

4 years ago

There are too many false assumptions about eating disorders

4 years ago

It can be hard to talk about, but having a mental illness is nothing to be ashamed of

5 years ago

Recovery is hard, but now I'm able to talk about my mental health

5 years ago

What my stigmatising and supportive experiences have taught me

5 years ago

The 1 in 4 people that experience mental health problems aren’t faking it

Irum

5 years ago

Eating disorders and Borderline Personality Disorder shouldn’t still be controversial subjects

5 years ago

With support from family and friends I am coping with depression and anxiety

5 years ago

Talking about my OCD has made me feel less alone

5 years ago

I want people to know that life does get better - Take 5 To Blog

5 years ago

My hope for the future is that stigma around mental health will be eradicated - Take 5 To Blog

5 years ago

Take 5 To Blog - Support from Family

5 years ago

Take 5 To Blog - Support from Friends

5 years ago

Why I am trying to be more open about my eating disorder

5 years ago

Six things I wish people knew about eating disorders

5 years ago

I don't know where I would be without the people I have met on my recovery journey

6 years ago

It is possible to return to education and remain in education after a mental health diagnosis

6 years ago

How do you make someone realise things are serious? Opening up about depression and eating disorders

6 years ago

I want to help change the perception of men who experience eating disorders, depression and other mental health conditions

6 years ago

Talking, tea and time- they’re good starting points: my family's experience with depression, suicide and eating disorders

6 years ago

I am no longer afraid to speak out about anorexia

6 years ago

Discrimination from Within: Hoping see a change in mental health professionals' perspectives on eating disorders

6 years ago

Feeling that I could be accepted and loved by someone new allowed a re-evaluation of my life

6 years ago

Anorexia: Part of my recovery journey was sharing my experiences

6 years ago

Walking with my sister helped me escape the restrictions of anorexia

6 years ago

Eating disorders: it isn't a lifestyle choice

6 years ago

I used to be really scared of telling people I suffered with mental health problems.

6 years ago

Talking about mental health: I didn't want people to become concerned about me

6 years ago

For years, I hid my struggles with borderline personality disorder and bulimia

7 years ago

My experience of talking about mental health in a Muslim community

7 years ago

I returned to work with the support of my line manager

7 years ago

I never speak about my eating disorder

7 years ago

Talking about anorexia has actually made my recovery process easier

7 years ago

Too old for an eating disorder?

7 years ago

My mother has kept speaking to me, her daughter: the one beneath the mental health issues

7 years ago

The portrayal of mental health in BBC's Don't Call Me Crazy

7 years ago

Don't Call Me Crazy: Review of episode 3

7 years ago

Comedian Juliette Burton on talking publicly about her mental health problems

7 years ago

Anxiety and depression: my housemate went with me to the GP

7 years ago

SRSH: Talking about student mental health

7 years ago

Starting at university: I thought I could hide my anorexia

7 years ago

I have bulimia: the first person I told was my partner

7 years ago

I was too scared to talk about my depression

7 years ago

Why not talk about eating disorders?

7 years ago

Anorexia: get well cards helped when in hospital

7 years ago

Living with anorexia: my most painful secret

7 years ago

Anorexia nervosa: a few strong friends kept me going

8 years ago

Binge eating disorder: it felt momentous to have a calm, ordinary conversation about it

8 years ago

Living in two worlds: hiding my mental illness

8 years ago

My experience of stigma as a mental health professional

8 years ago

Mental health, cancer and Facebook messages of support

8 years ago

Dear Mam...

8 years ago

Breaking the silence for Eating Disorders Awareness Week

8 years ago

It can be hard to talk about, but having a mental illness is nothing to be ashamed of

September 21, 2015

Despite such a large number of people experiencing mental health problems there remains an undeniable stigma surrounding mental health, a stigma which I believe stems from a lack of understanding about the experiences of people with mental illness. It seems to be exactly this stigma which has prevented me (and undoubtedly many others) from sharing personal experiences with mental health problems; for fear of an intimate disclosure being met with judgment.

Recovery is hard, but now I'm able to talk about my mental health

August 17, 2015

People have asked me before, what is it like to live with a mental illness? I’ve been thinking about this question a lot recently.

Until a few months ago, I would have given the answer that I thought they wanted to hear, or I would have shrugged my shoulders and not really known what to say. I didn’t really know what it was like to live with a mental illness, because my mental illness was my life; it was all I really knew, and I couldn’t imagine life without it.

I was first diagnosed with an eating disorder at sixteen

What my stigmatising and supportive experiences have taught me

August 10, 2015

Memory is a fickle thing; if I need to remember to buy washing powder from Sainsburys then there is a 100% chance of me completely forgetting it. On at least three consecutive occasions. Before I give up completely and buy it online. On the other hand there's the trivial things that stay with you decades later. Here are two that have stuck with me across the years:

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