Jade Thirlwall was thirteen was her grandfather passed away and, her life got to a turning point. The person that she felt safest with was no longer around. In addition to that she was bullied at school and her parents were arguing a lot. She felt out of control.
It was a combination of all of those events and feelings that got her to start to control the only thing she felt she could – her eating. Jade started to skip meals, she got slimmer and slimmer and when she looked at the mirror she wanted to be even skinner. She got Anorexia Nervosa. "I used to find out what foods would work as a laxative and that's what I eat" she wrote in her book Little Mix Our World.
Jade kept her anorexia as a secret for over a year. "The relief I felt when I told someone that I thought I was anorexic and that I hated the way I looked and enjoyed doing it to myself, it was like a weight lifting off my shoulders. The minute I started talking to people about it, is the minute I started getting better." Jade said on the BBC Radio 1 podcast. "The doctors told me that I could actually die if I kept doing it to myself" she added.
With help and treatment, Jade got through it and now she is part of the most successful girl band in the world. "the last time I went to the hospital was before my x-factor audition.. I said if I'll get through this audition that would inspire me more to stop doing it, because I wanted to change my life and I wanted to be a singer" Jade said.
Anorexia Nervosa is an eating disorder manifested when a person refuses to eat an adequate amount of food or is unable to maintain minimal weight for a person's body mass index. Stressful life events can play a role in triggering the disorder, as can temperamental factors, such as perfectionism and obsessional traits.
Treating Anorexia:
Treating anorexia involves three main goals: restoring weight lost to severe dieting and purging, treating psychological disturbances associated with body image distortions, and achieving long-term remission and rehabilitation or full recovery. Tell someone and ask for help, you can change your life just like Jade did.
References:
Understanding Psychology for Medicine and Nursing: Insights and Applications
GRE psychology Kaplan
Little Mix – Our world Book