One of the PBS SRL producers who was familiar with my eating disorder recovery story reached out to me for the On Our Minds podcast, a program about teenage mental health, and asked if I would be interested in creating a segment. My immediate thought was no. No way. It was too personal. But as I considered the proposition, I realized that was the exact reason why my story needed to be told. Anorexia is the mental health disorder with the highest mortality rate and is most prevalent among people aged 13-19. I agreed to make the segment and tell it in the format of the five stages of grief. Because for me, giving up my eating disorder after three years for recovery was like losing a part of myself, even it was for the best. My goal for this segment was to normalize the complex feelings that accompany the recovery process, and show others who might also be suffering that those feelings are OK. And hopefully, my story showed others that recovery is possible, no matter how daunting the task may seem. If my story helped even one person decide to recover, it will have been worth it.
Recognitions: “Top Student Stories You Missed”, PBS SRL (2022)
