Comparison. An act conducted by the putting together of two things in order to distinguish their similarities and differences. Every one of us compares ourselves to another, be it in admiration or to raise ones self-esteem. It is a way by which we determine what is acceptable in society or what we can be led to believe is ‘perfection’. Comparing yourself negatively can only lead to dissatisfaction and so why should be feel obliged to covet the life or looks of someone we idolise? In a sense it does give you a goal to reach and a motivation, but if it is simply unrealistic and unattainable then misery ensues. People blame eating disorders on the media who seemingly promote the need to be ‘model thin’- a …

Perseverance. The tendency to give up when the going gets tough is one that consumes us whenever we are faced with a daunting challenge. It takes a lot of willpower for someone to follow through with a difficult task despite there being seemingly no end to the ever coming trials. Without the desire to soldier on we abandon our trail, leaving us hopeless and somewhat frustrated with having wasted our precious time. Anything is attainable if we set our minds to it. To prevail, it requires determination and even should you not come out on top, you can personally commend your efforts for having tried. It is easier said than done to feel pride in your performance if you receive no gratification, but the simple knowledge that …

Ashamed. Reflect on an event within your lives which you endeavoured to supress from the outside world. We each have at least one particular moment we are immediately struck with. This inexplicable need to keep our darkest secrets hidden is down to our inability to trust one another with an intimate knowledge of our past. Such closeted events are always those that would potentially lead to us being shunned socially or viewed in a different yet negative way than to prior the revelation. Without the familiarity of how the recipient will react, we prefer to keep quiet. This mortification should not be confused with modesty whereby we downplay the impact of our actions to avoid a public display of gratification whilst not wanting to seem arrogant. Though …

Fear. The feeling that is felt in the pit of your stomach; the dread that causes all your insides to churn with anxiety whilst apprehending the occurrence of your most distressing nightmare. A phobia can be borne from experience after having had bad recollections of previous consequences caused by a particular event. In many cases there is no way to rationalise a fear, as it has seemingly developed from no specific incident. We cannot always explain why the panicked feeling arises; our hearts start beating faster, we feel the fear-fuelled adrenaline course through our veins and our breaths become spiked with distress. The effects of terror can either cause you to face it head on in order to overcome this fear or to run away and…

Survival. In Darwinian terms, those fittest for survival, endure the many tests thrown at them and go on to exist. Survival is a necessary human instinct and the one that drives us to run away in face of danger. However, what happens when the only option is to head forwards amidst the perils? Will only the strongest survive, or do we each have the capability to fight our way through and ultimately end up safely on the other side? No one can lead a meaningful existence by continuously bypassing threats and no one has been able to do so no matter how confident they may appear on the outside. The risks involved in the challenge are what lead us to shy away from the fight but we…

Impressions. The way you act is always going to define you as a person, especially to those that do not know you personally. When someone sees you as someone other than who you really are and reminds you of this fact, it can really hurt. Whatever actions you aim to pursue, people will know, people will see and people will judge. Unfortunately a reputation is easy to gain but much harder to lose. University for me was a place in which I could recreate a persona that I could really fit to. Unfortunately, I most definitely overestimated myself in that regard. I would have thought that the past could always remain so; however history has a menacing way of catching up with you. Acting and behaving a…

Adaptation. When faced with a different environment that is unknown to us, we tend to amend our behaviour in order to conform to what we believe is expected of us. How do you then distinguish between who you really are and want to be and the person that you have been perceived to be in a given situation. In most cases an adaptation can be beneficial, as we are given the opportunity to leave our turbulent past behind and create a more genuine persona, in other cases the change is drastic and turns you into a person you had never wanted to be. Having had an eating disorder whereby I would aim to control every aspect of my eating habits, it is hard for me to not…

Pressure. We can often bear the feeling of being required to carry a burden we are ill-equipped to cope with. When saddled with our own need to achieve, we can often lay an unnecessary stress upon ourselves, which could easily be relieved if we were to trust our abilities. For someone suffering from Anorexia Nervosa, they find comfort in the knowledge that their failure can of sorts be rectified with the accomplishment of restricting themselves of food. When there is little we can control in the face of anxiety, ‘victories’ are sought in different places and predominantly in how we feed ourselves; alimentation being the one true aspect we have complete power over. Soon enough we build a tolerance to the small euphoria induced in the…

Embarrassment. When we undergo an experience that we believe will be judged by others in a negative way and will hinder our appearance to others, we feel a rush of shame course through us. More often than not, it is our own fears of how we are perceived by the public that causes this emotion rather than how people would generally react to such a situation. Our discomfort can take on a physical form, flooding our faces with a noticeable blush making matters somewhat worse. However, in many cases our mortification can remain internal eating away at us by telling us that everyone will laugh or use this against us to make us seem weaker. It is our pride that will encourage us to avoid humiliation and…

Vulnerability. For many of us the idea of revealing our weaknesses makes us shiver with the thought of them potentially being used against us. We therefore put on a façade of a tough exterior; we appear almost emotionless. When I was first writing my blog, I was scared of revealing my Achilles’ heel; my downfall with Anorexia, yet I felt it a necessity as I was carrying my illness as a banner through my emaciated frame. For many Eating Disorder sufferers, we have so long thrived in the secrecy of what we are doing to ourselves, that the idea of exposing it to the outside world is terrifying. This poses a problem when we are seeking help in recovery. If we are too afraid to speak out…

Stationary. The word signifies non-movement, whether it is your body, your life or simply a moment in time. There are different reasons to fear an instant in your lifetime where you feel stagnant and unable to move forward with ambition or with a task at hand that you know must be completed. However, there are also many reasons to relish such a time, when things seem so perfect you dare not move on at the risk of losing all that is good in that snapshot in time. In both cases there really is naught to be afraid of yet, how can we move forward if no path has been made available to us? How can we afford to leave behind all that is good when only…