Share Your Story
by Jenni Schaefer, Author of Life Without Ed and Goodbye Ed, Hello Me
I receive emails daily from people who wish to share their recovery stories by speaking or writing. I am asked about it so often that I wrote about it specifically in my new book, Goodbye Ed, Hello Me. I will share a little with you here.
If you are trying to decide whether or not to share your recovery story, I encourage you to get in touch with your heart to discover the reasons behind why you want to speak out. Talk with your therapist and other people on your support team for guidance.
Some people get involved in sharing their story as a way of staying connected to the eating disorder identity, which obviously is not healthy. (Being an “eating disorder helper” serves a similar role in their lives as being an “eating disorder sufferer” had.)
On the other hand, some people decide to share their story and possibly even make eating disorders a part of their career (by becoming a therapist or dietitian), because they have always had a deep desire to help others. For these individuals, sharing their story and providing hope to those who still struggle satisfies that longtime passion of wanting to help people. This can be a very healthy pursuit.
I entered the path to become a doctor in college (and was even accepted into medical school), because I knew that a career in medicine would allow me to make a difference in the other people’s lives. For me, sharing my recovery story has been a way for me to do that as well. But I admit that making eating disorders a part of my career has been frustrating at times. In Goodbye Ed, Hello Me, I write that I don't want to simply be known as the "recovered girl." I want people to know the real me. Because of my career path to this point, people mostly know my Ed better than me.
Balance for me in the future might mean that my next book is about something completely unrelated to eating disorders. It might mean that I go back to medical school or do something else entirely different. Since I am fully recovered, the door of possibility and opportunity has swung wide open. I can do anything at all.
And so can you. Become an astronaut or a teacher. Start a family or make new friends. You might decide to share your story or become an eating disorder therapist. You might not.
George Eliot (Mary Ann Evans) says, "It's never too late to be who you might have been." Don’t let your eating disorder define you. Define your own life.
For additional information, visit:
NEDA’s “Guidelines for Sharing Stories of Recovery”