Thursday, July 29, 2010

JAN'S STORY: "I HOPE YOU'LL ALSO FIND OUT ONE DAY THAT LIFE'S WORTH TO BE LIVED."


Jan, after therapy

"Hi Medusa.

At first I just wanted to tell you, that I think, your page is one of the most important in the whole "pro-or-against-eating-disorder" thing.

I'm very sorry for my bad English, I hope, I'll find the words to tell my story. Maybe it'll help anyone to find his/her true self and leave his ED behind.

Half a year ago I thought my eating disorder started in 2008. Now I know that this is not right, it's just that nobody recognized.

When I was at the kindergarten I was a very small and thin child, always underweight. When I started elementary school I also started binging, I don't know why. With 11 years I had a weight about 130 pounds (about 145 cm tall), my parents always asked themselves what was wrong with me (another interesting point maybe is, that my younger brother (I'm 4 years older) started binging also when elementary school began).

I always hated my weight. I always hated my body. I always felt useless, unable to be loved, outstanding and misunderstood, my phobia started with about 8 (I feared nearly everything. Day, night, people, loneliness, darkness, mirrors, talking, and so on), my depressions with 11, with 12. I tried to kill myself or the first time.

With 14 I was diagnosed with Borderline, I was also cutting myself. I was so full of hate and all of it was against my worthless existence.


Jan, a half year before her bulimia started

With 15 I started therapy at a psychiatric ward and stayed there for 5 months. When I went home, I thought it might go better from now, but that was not the face, it went worse.

After another try to kill myself on New Year 2008 I had my second therapy on a ward. I started purging but nobody saw it. At this time it wasn't often, about 2 times a month.

In July I found pro-ana-pages and that was when my ED was complete:

First starving for about 3/4 of a year, I lost nearly 50 pounds. Then my body didn't wanted to do this anymore, but I wanted to, so my bulimia went out of "control" (of course, it's been ALL out of control before. But I never realized).

One year in hell passed, I still don't know how I survived it. Then I went to a clinic which was specialized on eating disorders. This was where I found out, that my ED did not start when I found pro-ana. Where I learned what kind of problems I ever had and why I tried to hide them behind symptoms like cutting, purging or starving. It's been all the same but my parents never saw my problems. I was always the one who said: "I can't live on like this, I need to go to a psychologist", my parents never realized. This does not mean that they didn't take care of me, they just... did not SEE the problems.


Jan, during therapy

After the last clinic I moved out from my mother’s house. I'm living alone now and slowly I started to LIKE myself. Not loving, not yet. But there's an acceptance and some days I look in the mirror and think: "Hey. You're a pretty girl, aren't you? Why did you hate yourself all this time?"

In the end I still don't say that these 15 years of mental disease are wasted. Because they made me being what I am now and they made me also realize that life's often harder than the other might know.

I'm happy at the moment. I like myself - and I LOVE life. And I am glad I survived.

Best greetings to everyone. I hope you'll also find out one day that life's worth to be lived.

Jan."

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Monday, July 26, 2010

PHOTOBUCKET GLITCH....


PROBLEM FIXED!

You've probably noticed the Photobucket "Bandwith Exceeded" messages all over my site.  Something is amiss as I have a Photobucket Pro account.

I've reported the problem to Photobucket, so hopefully the glitch will be fixed soon.

Serenity now, serenity now...

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Sunday, July 25, 2010

TMMK'S STORY: "I SEE PEOPLE AT THE WORST PART OF THEIR LIVES, WHO WHEN THEY COME IN ARE A SHADOW OF THEIR PERSONALITY, A SPLINTER THAT IS SHARP AND ROUGH..."

Frozen Flower

“MEDUSA-

I stumbled upon your site in an effort to better understand myself and the patients I was helping to treat in an eating disorder clinic, where I am a psych tech. Every day I see women who struggle to decide if they want to get better, stay where they are, or end it all. Sites like yours help give me faith that even if the time isn't right for recovery for that person, maybe they will stumble upon yours or another similar site, combine that with past treatment, and get the encouragement and support they need to take back their life and control from their ED monster.

I myself struggle with eating issues and bulimia, which is why I sought a job in this particular field (I am in a place where I am not triggered by my job and am doing well).
I wanted so badly to show to those patients and gentle souls how I really do know how it feels, and that recovery is hard but worth it (but employee mandates require me not to disclose my condition which I understand. their treatment is about them).

But I can say with out a doubt that there are people out there who I have only known for a few weeks or even days who I truly love and wish the best for. If every person treated themselves with the dignity and respect they deserved, and to which they are truly entitled to, seeing the amazing person they are inside and out, I really believe making the choice to choose health and happiness over pain and death would be easier.

So often we want to give friends and family a perfectly pain-free life experience, and take care of all their needs, yet we make the conscious decision to not do so for ourselves (for reasons of guilt, unworthiness or self hatred, etc.) My goal is to always remind people that they are worthy of being taken care of by themselves.

For anyone who is struggling in a treatment center, outpatient therapy, or silently suffering, there are people who care about you, who you have never, and may never, meet in person. My only desire is that you hold on, and know that somewhere in the world there is someone who understands and loves you unconditionally and that those in treatment centers who appear to be "phoning it in" for their job go home and cry when they see the devastation and pain written in people's eyes and on their bodies.

I see people at the worst part of their lives, who when they come in are a shadow of their personality, a splinter that is sharp and rough; who are depressed, angry, hurt, have had sexual, psychological, or physical trauma, and have been carelessly used in ways that are criminally indescribable.

But even when I am yelled at for asking a patient to finish their meal, for asking them to follow a rule or policy, or to just take one more bite, I know that it is worth it. They may decide to refuse their meal. They may decide to cut, to overdose, to act out or tell me directly they hate me, and may even hit me. But I still love them, every one, even if they will never know.

These people are daughters, mothers, sisters, brothers, fathers and friends who deserve all the care and respect in the world, and I feel privileged to be a part of the recovery, and healing process, even if the patient isn't ready, yet.

Thank you for your website, for people's stories and for the support you give.

From frozen winters to new life and beauty, recovery is possible and wonderful

- tmmk”

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