Life is a journey not a destination so .....my story isn't over yet;...me

 This week is eating disorders awareness week, but today is also self harm awareness day. I think it is important to raise awareness as self harm is too often misunderstood and judged. Self harm isn't attention seeking or to attempt suicide although people who self harm are at higher risk of attempting suicide, therefore all self harm should be taken seriously especially in young people.  I self harmed once when I was about 13 but my main problem then was an eating disorder and the self harm I did then was because I thought it was a good idea after I heard someone else had done it. I then didn't self harm until I was in my 20s. At 21 I was suffering with severe bulimia and it was like a constant battle in my head arguing between my rational self and an eating disorder voice, the eating disorder making me feel guilty about all food and myself wanting to eat. I remember sat crying on the kitchen floor as I was hungry but the eating disorder " voice" wouldn't let me

 This week is eating disorders awareness week. 1 in 50 people in the UK suffer from eating disorders yet many people don't know the signs or symptoms of eating disorders and GPS only get 2 hours of training on eating disorders in med school in their whole training.  When people think of eating disorders they think of a skeletal anorexic and think people with anorexia just don't eat and think people with bulimia just make themselves sick. People who are overweight or obese are often classed as lazy and just need to eat less and exercise more but binge eating disorder is also an eating disorder where a person over eats to deal with emotions and also being overweight can be caused by medical conditions or medications especially ones to treat mental health problems. Eating Disorders are mental health disorders not weight disorders therefore no one should ever be judged for their weight. There is anorexia where a person is scared of being overweight so maintains a low weight by star

 Today is time to talk day 2022, a day run by Mind and Rethink the mental health charities to encourage conversations about mental health to help break the stigma of having mental health problems.  Just like we all have physical health we also have mental health therefore the same way anyone can develop a physical health problem,  its the same for mental health. 1 in 4 people will suffer from a mental health problem in their lifetime therefore it is important to be able to talk about it to help break the stigma so people won't be scared or ashamed to reach out for help. Even though I believe this I also know not everyone is accepting of mental health problems, I even told someone the other day I only work as holiday cover teaching horse riding as I have a heart condition. I do have a heart condition but I should feel that it's acceptable to be open about my mental health too, but that is why time to talk days need to happen so it is just as acceptable to be as open about mental