This Sunday International Women’s Day was celebrated across the globe and to commemorate the date, I would like to talk about an inspirational woman that I am privileged to know personally. Lydia Davies is a friend who bravely overcame an eating disorder and rather than being a victim, she took her history of anorexia in her stride and became a successful author with a bright future ahead of her.
Lydia was diagnosed with anorexia during her time at university. Despite having a loving family around her and great friends, Lydia became addicted to weight loss to the point where she was surviving on three teaspoons of tinned asparagus a day. Her Doctors told her that she would die and at the age of 19, she hit her lowest weight of 4 stone 12 lbs, giving her a BMI of around 12. The past five years have been a tough cycle of binging, purging and drinking, with numerous suicide attempts and the confiscation of her driving license.
Now at the age of 23, Lydia is healthy and strongly believes that recovery is possible. She is brave enough to share her story as she has no shame in the mental torture that she overcame, believing that eating disorders must be ‘un-glamourised’ and portrayed truthfully. It is for this reason that she is now the published author her new book ‘Raw’: a truthful account of her anorexia, told through letters and blogs that she wrote ‘through the best and the worst of times’, graphic doctors notes and letters from her parents and friends trying to understand.
Lydia wrote ‘Raw’ in the hope that others suffering would relate to it and that those who are trying to understand the mental illness would gain further insight into how an eating disorder really feels.
‘Raw’ was released this week and is available on amazon in paperback and as an E-book.
Available here : http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00NKY23WG/ref=cm_sw_r_fa_awdl_6TUavb10WSJAY
To anyone who is suffering or has a loved one suffering from an eating disorder, ‘Raw’ offers a poignant insight, support and most importantly hope that recovery is possible.
‘Recovery is the most difficult yet amazing thing I have ever done or achieved. But it is possible. If I could get out of there (which to this day I am amazed by), then others can too. Have hope.’