Rachel’s Story: Battling Anorexia
In honor of National Eating Disorder Awareness Week, we wanted to do something different for a blog post. We wanted to share the story of a powerful woman who has battled anorexia and is still fighting the battle of recovering. This is Rachel’s story, in her own words. Rachel wanted to introduce herself to you and share this piece of advice for anyone going through it:
“My name is Rachel Eckerling. I am currently a doctoral resident at Keck Medical Center of the University of Southern California. I am an occupational therapist, dancer, dog-mom, daughter, girlfriend, sister and friend. I also happen to be in recovery from over 14 years of anorexia.
Recovery has taught me patience, compassion and kindness. It has taught me that humans are resilient. I want to help give others hope that they can improve themselves and live their lives to the fullest.
My biggest piece of advice is to reach out. Reach out to family, friends, your physician or anyone you trust. Some people may never think they are “sick enough” to warrant professional help or treatment. But if thoughts or behaviors about food or your body are interfering with your daily life, that in itself is enough to seek — and receive — support and relief. No one deserves to go through this alone; people will support and love you through it. Coming from someone who has been defined by their eating disorder for years, I can finally say with confidence that you are more than your eating disorder. No matter how much it seems to define you.”
We want to say thank you to Rachel for opening up on her story to us and everyone out there. We hope that his video helps at least one person and educates many more.
