These drawings testify what information technology'south really like to have an eating disorder

ed:more than weight gain

Christie Begnell's drawings testify what having and recovering from eating disorders is actually like.
meandmyed.fine art/Instagram

The INSIDER Summary:

  • Christie Begnell developed anorexia at age 20.
  • She started drawing to express what living with and recovering from an eating disorder is similar.
  • She shares her art on Instagram and in her new volume, "Me and My ED," to destigmatize the illness.


When Christie Begnell began sharing her drawings on Instagram, she realized how helpful they could be in explaining the reality of what is ofttimes a misunderstood disease.

Having adult anorexia at xx years old, she used art to illustrate her relationship with "Ana." At present 24, she's compiled more than 60 of her drawings into a volume called "Me and My ED" to testify what having and recovering from an eating disorder is really like.

Begnell spoke to INSIDER via email about her journey.

She struggled with depression and anxiety through her adolescence, which worsened when her parents split and she broke up with a long-term boyfriend.

Courtesy Christie Begnell

Dieting and calorie counting to meet weight loss goals gave her a sense of command.

meandmyed.fine art/Instagram

"I became obsessed with exercise and finding ways to lose weight ," she said. "It became a fashion of distracting from all the pain and loneliness and it gave me a purpose once again ...I got a high off setting myself goals and achieving them."

Presently, those goals became rules that she felt trapped inside.

Courtesy Christie Begnell

"I HAD to follow these rules or the eating disorder voice would hurl abuse at me and I would exist tormented with feelings of failure, worthlessness, and hopelessness," she said.

Her art provided an outlet to express the feelings driving her anorexia in a healthier fashion.

meandmyed.art/Instagram

"I learned to express myself through weight loss and a skeletal body, which was killing me slowly," she said. "Expressing myself through my drawings has been the safer way to communicate my fears and emotions with people."

These days, she uses her drawings to go through rough patches.

meandmyed.art/Instagram

"If I'm upset about something, I'll draw it out and share information technology with my followers, therapists, and my loved ones," she said. "I and so utilise their feedback about the drawings as a way to gain insight and to fight Ana."

She also uses them to illustrate what working through an eating disorder can feel similar to educate others and destigmatize the disease.

meandmyed.art/Instagram

Oft, eating disorders are seen as a condition where people starve themselves to await pretty.

Courtesy Christie Begnell

Begnell is hoping to change that by presenting a broader moving-picture show of those who endure from eating disorders.

meandmyed.fine art/Instagram

"I want people to see that eating disorders are mental illnesses and weight loss is a possible side upshot, not the root cause," she said.

meandmyed.fine art/Instagram

"At present seeing the affect my art is having on people, I feel like I have a purpose again and that has helped my motivation and mood and so much."

meandmyed.art/Instagram
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