Personal Narrative: My Personal Experience With Mental Disorders

I walked into the room I would be in for the next month with shaking hands. I see seven other teenaged kids, all of them with a similar illness as me. I have anorexia and I was starting treatment this day. I would spend the next thirty days eating three meals and three snacks daily, having groups where all of us discussed coping skills and how to maintain supportive relationships, and meeting with therapists, dieticians, nurse practitioners, and social workers. This was a major shock to me as I had spent the past three years hiding my illness, going all of the school day not eating, and participating in life half alive. This place was an hour and a half away from my home and I was utterly petrified. The first person I met in treatment was a
I felt like I didn’t belong there because I thought I wasn’t sick at all. I thought I was faking being sick, but my tears at meals proved otherwise. I learned while I was in there that I took care of others more than I took care of myself. I would always encourage others, and I would put down myself. I was told every day during meetings that I need to talk to myself the way I talk to others, in a very kind, supportive, and caring way. I believed and still believe to a certain degree that I didn’t deserve that. After a few weeks, I started eating more and being more compliant with my meal plan. My friends there encouraged me and I tried to listen. I had a placemat in front of me every time I ate that had a list of motivators to eat. This list consisted of a couple shows I was going to be in, going back to school, taking back my summer, seeing friends, going to college, and sleeping in my own bed. After being there for a month, I was stepped down to a partial hospitalization program, which was six hours every week day. The step towards freedom that came with that threw me on the right track. I started eating all my meals and snack although this was incredibly difficult for
I was reminded how much I love going to rehearsal and seeing friends and getting to go outside instead of being locked up. After a month of the partial program I was stepped down to an intensive outpatient