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Q&A Series: Bláithín

Writer's picture: Amy HanleyAmy Hanley



Name: Bláithín

Age: 27

Gender: Female


Thanks for agreeing to be interviewed for my blog. The goal is to raise awareness about what eating disorders are and what sufferers go through. 


Q: Can you please tell me a little bit about yourself, and about the eating disorder you have?


A: I’m Bláithín, I’m from Dublin but I am currently living in London. I was diagnosed with Anorexia Nervosa in 2017, at the age of 21 during my final year of college. 


Q: When did you realise you had issues with eating, and what did you do to seek help?


A: It’s difficult to say when I realised I knew something was wrong. An eating disorder will always try and convince you that everything is fine, and you're not sick, especially in the early days. Every so often I would notice I was eating very little and pushed it to the back of my mind. I noticed I began to have a sense of fear around certain foods or social occasions where food was involved.


It was a slow burn of realisation that something was very wrong. I guess I was in denial. But in December 2017 things had gotten worse, I noticed I was not myself, food, exercise and my body consumed all of my thoughts. I was performing in a play, and even when I was acting on stage I was thinking about food and my body. That’s when I truly realised that things had gotten out of control.  


I went to my mum first and foremost. This was probably one of the most difficult things I’ve ever done. The idea of telling her made me feel so weak, vulnerable and uncomfortable. ED’s thrive off of secrecy, so I was fighting internally with the notion of confiding in her. When I did, she was incredibly supportive and booked an appointment with my GP for the next day. My GP then referred me to a psychotherapist who specialised in ED’s, and that was imperative in my road to recovery. 


Q: Did you encounter any difficulties when seeking treatment?


A: Thankfully my experience with referrals for treatment was good. However, as I am very tall, it was noticeable that I was underweight. I fear had I not been showing physical symptoms, I may not have had the referrals for a psychotherapist and dietician. I know of so many who have struggled with getting a diagnosis and treatment, simply because they are not presenting physical symptoms of their ED. It's so heartbreaking to hear. Eating disorders do not have a certain look to them. You do not have to look like you have an eating disorder to have an eating disorder, this is something a lot of people, even in the medical field, do not acknowledge. 


Q: What changes would you like to see in eating disorder services?


A: To build on what I said earlier, I’d like to see a move away from the physical attributes in terms of diagnosis and treatment. I recall my GP hesitating to diagnose me simply because I did not have down on my arms. Eating disorders are mental primarily and physical secondarily, and I’d like this to be reflected among GPs in particular. 


Q: What is one thing you would like people to know about eating disorders?


A: Eating disorders are secretive, they thrive off of being hidden, so you can't determine if somebody has one just by looking at them. Eating disorders do not discriminate. You can be any age, any gender, any size and suffer greatly from this illness.  


Q: What piece of advice would you give to someone who is struggling with an eating disorder?


A: Light is at the end of that very dark, long tunnel. You just have to be patient in seeing it, which can be an extremely frustrating and difficult thing to practice. It‘s been 6 years since my diagnosis in 2017, and it’s only in the last year or so that I feel really and truly back to myself. Recovery is not linear, but as time goes on, the power your ED has over you slowly but surely diminishes. Trust in that. Life gets brighter and your ED easier to manage. 

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