I found the place for a piece of my jigsaw and felt a sense of achievement as I pushed it into the picture. It was then the door swung open. I turned to see them advancing in like an army in battle. I flicked into flight mode and sped across the room. As they reached…
When my Mother died when I was eight, I was shuffled into a psychologist’s office in short order- adopted brown kid in a white area, dead mother– my father was no fool, he knew that I would need support. The problem was, of course, the age in which I grew up. I was born in…
I have a myriad of conditions- all diagnosed in adulthood- however I have been experiencing symptoms of most of these things since early childhood, with some popping up in my teen years. I have Bipolar Disorder (started as a teen/young adult), OCD (started in early childhood), ADHD (born with), autism (born with), Complex PTSD (I’ve…
It’s difficult to know exactly when my anorexia began. It’s a notoriously insidious illness which slowly entangles the mind; its disordered tendrils gradually corrupting the person until they’re completely ensnared in its grip. Little did I know that my innocent foray into running at age fourteen would force me into the horrific, illimitable depths of…
I have always had a sort of ambivalent relationship to my body. I haven’t always taken very good care of it, and at times it has shown. Hangovers that have lasted too many days. Scars, cuts and bruises- both accidental and intentional- have taken their place alongside tattoos. As I have hit my late thirties,…
I had a long-standing diagnosis of Bipolar Disorder, alongside depression and anxiety, which has recently been re-diagnosed as CPTSD (which makes so much more sense to me). I also have anorexia. Masking is something I spend a huge amount of time and energy doing. I’ve struggled with massive fluctuations in mood since my teens –…
Although I was diagnosed with Binge Eating Disorder (BED) some time ago, this is one of the only times I have spoken about it. BED suffers from far more stigma compared to other eating disorders. Whilst people with anorexia and bulimia are treated with sympathy and are thought of as brave, the same isn’t really…