Daniela is currently nineteen and a sophomore attending UCSB, while simultaneously suffering from anorexia nervosa. She has been battling anorexia since she was in the eighth grade, starting out with her wanting to lose weight because she noticed she was in a bigger body in comparison to kids at school. She began by looking up ways to lose weight, then moved to dieting and working out, and finally, it took over her life. Teachers and friends began to notice and worry about her, prompting them to refer her to a counselor. 

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"When I was called into the office and they asked me what was going on I told them because nobody had asked me at that point, not my parents or my friends. The fact that the counselors asked made it really easy for me to actually tell them how I was feeling and what I was doing. After I had told them everything, they got me a dietitian and a team of people that checked in on me until I finished middle school. When I entered high school, I was in a better place because of this."

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Despite her constant efforts to get better since then, Daniela has had relapse points on and off throughout the years. 

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Recently she has fallen back into her anorexia disorder and started to notice its symptoms again. Her family doesn’t know how to address it and therefore cannot offer any aid to help her. She neglected to tell her parents about this disorder for years, and once she finally revealed it to them, they haven't mentioned it since. Daniela emphasized that "foreign families" have a habit of commenting on someone's body excessively. From her experience, she noticed that they often believe mental health disorders are "made-up" and "medication isn't good for you." 

 

She finds it difficult to talk about it not only with her parents but also with other people who don’t understand it because it is a layered problem, not a simple concept to explain. Sometimes it is even hard to talk about it with doctors because not all are specialized in the field of eating disorders because often the things they say can be very triggering.

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"[Doctors] think they're helping you and giving you the best advice to be healthy, but they don't know how much they're affecting your mental health, how what they say can be so damaging. I feel it's like walking on shells when talking about these types of things with people because some don't understand and some possibly could, but you are afraid to go into it and explain yourself because it is sometimes embarrassing and shameful."

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Encompassing Daniela's anorexia includes nonstop thinking about food and weight followed by eating as little as she can. Because of the lack of energy, she becomes numb and tired, causing her to be snappy and mean to those around her. Daniela describes this experience as often feeling guilty for the mean way she responds to her friends, wishing she could explain it to them but doesn't want to appear as a burden. Not only did these symptoms of anorexia affect her relationships with others, but also her school life. Because of her lack of energy, the schoolwork made her feel mentally exhausted and therefore could not complete it on time nor did she feel the need to go to her classes. 

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Her anxiety about food built up because she could not stop following the imaginary routine rules she made up in her mind, such as restricting herself to certain amounts of food she needs to eat and specific times she needs to eat it. 

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Currently, Daniela is enrolled in an eating disorder recovery program, eager to gear away from her reoccurring negative thoughts that she fabricates, low self-esteem, feeling that she should be punished, and believing that she is not worth the care of others.

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Daniela's main triggers:

• Seeing people on social media with really thin bodies

• Social media talking about how little they eat

• People in her life talking about how little they eat and talking about their weight

• People using "fat" as an insult

• Comments made about her body

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Daniela's tips she has for those who know someone with anorexia disorder: You will start to notice signs of anorexia if they are eating less, losing weight rapidly, being detached, avoiding events that involve food, or exercising more often. Tell someone you care about them and you are there for them and are there to talk about it and make sure to ask that person what you can do to help.

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