Rewriteyourstory

Talking about my eating disorder publicly has really opened my eyes to how many people struggle with similar experiences. My eating disorder started when I went to University: the massive change, moving from a small country village to a large city, leaving my family behind. Suddenly everything was different and I desperately wanted to fit in. In the past I’d been bullied at school, I was terrified it might happen again. They say that an eating disorder develops more often in someone with a perfectionist nature and I believe this was the case for me. In the past, I’d always [...]

There are different types of eating disorders that are categorized by their symptoms and health affects. Anorexia Nervosa Symptoms include: Over evaluation of shape and weight and control Judging self-worth largely and even exclusively in terms of shape and weight and the ability to control Active maintenance of low body weight – less than 85% of that expected or a body mass index of 17.5 or below Inadequate food intake Fear of weight gain Obsession over weight and food Inability to understand the severity of the situation Bulimia Nervosa Symptoms include: Over evaluation of shape and weight Recurrent binge eating [...]

I have been in recovery for 5 years now. A series of events occurred in my life, which were out of my personal control. The death of my Father pushed me over the edge and triggered my need to control something. In my case, I coped by controlling the one thing I could, my weight and what I ate. At the age of 18, I was diagnosed with anorexia nervosa. For me, my eating disorder wasn’t about being slim and fitting into what today’s ‘ideal’ is, the notion that thin is beautiful. Instead it gave me a focus, a form [...]

In the UK, 400,000 people live with type 1 diabetes, meanwhile Canadian research suggests as many as 60% of female type 1 sufferers have experienced an eating disorder by age 25. You don’t get a day off when you’ve got diabetes. Every day is about blood sugar levels, needles and numbers. When you’ve got diabetes and an eating disorder, well, that’s a lot of numbers dictating your life, from calorie counting to watching the scales. Read more about diabulimia and Becky’s story here You can also watch the BBC Three Documentary Diabulimia: The World’s Most Dangerous Eating Disorder [...]

Therapy Partners’ Sallie Kemp and Rubie Cousins recently visited Mayfield Grammar School for Girls to deliver an interactive assembly about Eating Disorders and Body Image to 180 girls. It’s main aim; Raise as much awareness as possible about eating disorders, how and why they develop, what role society plays in this and how to get help. Rubie, one of Rewrite Your Story trustees, who shared her story through the video and inspired the charity, spoke to the girls on the day about her own, lived experiences and answered any questions they had.  ‘Outside influences including the power of the media & [...]

The PETS (Psycho-Educational Therapeutic Intervention strategy) project which inspired the launch of Rewrite Your Story, has published an Executive Summary Report and a Full Report of the project’s outcomes, outlining the 3 different areas of three-dimensional multi-faceted support offered to young people and their families throughout the project; TARGETED SUPPORT FOR INDIVIDUALS on a one-to-one basis by providing 20 sessions of solution-focused, evidence-based CBT-E therapy within a week of referral at a convenient location for the young person. Facilitated PEER SUPPORT GROUPS for parents and or carers, and young people based on a psycho-educational approach. Key themes, together with strategies for building [...]

An article in The Guardian has highlighted the issues with the NHS services for eating disorders, the increase in referalls especially in children and young people under the age of 19, and that the system is just not working.  The number of admissions to hospital of patients with potentially life-threatening eating disorders has almost doubled over the past six years, amid warnings from experts that NHS services to tackle anorexia and bulimia are failing to help those in need. The number of admissions with a primary or secondary diagnosis of an eating disorder reached a peak of 13,885 in the [...]