How Activism Helped Me Recover & Never Look Back

Last February, I finally told my family about my six-year struggle with an eating disorder, and I decided to pursue treatment. It was terrifying but I knew I needed it. Even though it was my choice, I was really freaked out.   I had never talked about my eating disorder with anyone before, and in the span of two weeks I ended up telling more people than I can remember — doctors, therapists, friends, my parents, intake specialists. It was all very overwhelming.   Going through that, I began seeking out a community that would “get it.” I ended up on the internet, and that’s how I discovered National Eating Disorder Awareness Week. Coincidentally, I started my treatment about two weeks before NEDAwareness Week started, so I began looking for any kind of related programming on my campus, thinking I would find the community I was looking for there. To my surprise, on NYU’s activist-filled campus of over 20,000 undergrads, I found almost nothing.   People are very appreciative of the community that’s being built around this issue. It’s really powerful, and it’s taught me a huge lesson: you don’t have to go through it alone.   That was a huge step in my recovery process. It showed me that there are other people out there who do "get it."   (Continue reading this post, here)