Sad and Lonely

[SadKeira]

Hello Everybody,

My name's Keira and I'm 23, from the south of England. I've been battling an eating disorder since my teens and I'm making progress with that but I still get very bad anxiety and depression. I had a lovely boyfriend for a few years but the whole thing got too much for him and we broke up in August this year :(

I have trouble sleeping all the time and I'm just so lonely and sad (I live with my parents and my younger sister but they are asleep now of course). I don't know what else to do so I joined this forum and hope to meet some people I can talk to.

Thank you for listening :)

[rbrunswick]

Hey there,

Sorry to hear that you're going through such a tough time at the moment. I am also in the UK and am also awake at this late time, so you already know that you're not alone! From what you've written you've made good progress in overcoming your eating disorder. I've started having difficulty with eating as part of my anxiety, and it must be really tough to have an eating disorder, since food is something that so many people get so much pleasure from, and it should be something that cheers you up. So you must be strong if you're able to make progress with that.

Do you know what is causing your depression and anxiety? Have you sought any professional help, and are there things that you find help to alleviate your symptoms?

I look forward to getting to know you and hopefully helping you to feel a little bit better :)

[Kirk]

You are 23 and with the right help, you will overcome this and will begin to enjoy your life more and eventually meet someone else who will accept you no matter what.
I remember when I was in my early 20's, I dated a girl who had an eating disorder and she was sick quite a bit and if I remember correctly, as it was a long time ago, quite attractive.
At the time she was going through a rough period and we did not go out anymore after a number of dates, as she broke it off.

[fixmybrokenmind]

Hey Keira, welcome to the forum. Doesn't matter what you are going through you will always have friends and support here :)

[SadKeira]

Thank you for the kind replies everyone.

I am seeing a therapist who has helped with the eating disorder (Body Dysmorphic Disorder). He basically says the anxiety and depression stems from my perfectionism and the belief that I am never good enough. It doesn't help that I spend lots of time on social media and compare myself to all these beautiful women (most of which are fake anyway apparently!) so he has told me to stay away from sites like Instagram and look at real life people instead. So I go and sit at the mall and look at "normal" women but all I can think about is my hair or my make-up and how I want to go home and sit in front of the mirror making sure it's perfect. Or I sit and look at my legs and think about how fat they are :( It's ridiculous, I know, but I can't seem to stop.

Anyway, I've been lurking around reading other people's posts and it's made me feel a tad better.

Thanks again :)

[fixmybrokenmind]

Social Media is the worst. Don't forget many of these girls spend hours to get the perfect photo. Another thing people don't realize about social media is the fact that it is all highlights of peoples lives and never includes the negative things. Facebook and Instagram are simply designed to make you look happy and interesting even if you are not.

If you feel overweight exercise :) but I am sure it is more in your mind than anything. The average women isn't 10% bodyfat and you don't have to be either

[Malone]

Hi Keira, hope you're doing well and the new year is looking brighter for you.