For almost a decade, Edinburgh student Jo Buckley battled with eating disorders. She is in recovery now, but recalls only too well the long road back to health.

It is why she used Eating Disorders Awareness Week to speak out about her experiences to help others.**

A report published by the UK’s leading charity for those affected by eating disorders, Beat, showed the extent to which these conditions go unnoticed and the need to speak out about them so that nobody goes through this alone.

Figures in the report state that 87% of people with eating disorders didn’t seek medical advice when they realised they had a problem and 64% of people waited for more than six months before telling someone about what they were going through.

These are aspects that Jo Buckley, 23, can identify with although her problems with food began when she was 12 it was only at the age of 19 that she went to the doctor, even then she didn’t believe that anything was wrong.

She said: “I would restrict what I was eating and avoid meal time avoiding situations that I didn’t want to be in.

"It started because a group of girls decided they didn’t want to be friends with me in school so I would avoid the canteen in order to avoid them.

“When I went to uni I thought that I could live any life that I wanted but I found that difficult.

"The eating disorder was the control in my life. Doing a dancing degree I fit the stereotype but it took over my life and revolved around rules.

“It came to a head when I was 19 and a friend broke down in tears and I thought if this is causing someone else to feel like this then I should go and do something about it.

"So I went to the doctor but I didn’t think there was anything wrong.

“I felt relief to finally have someone outside with medical qualifications to say that they thought I had anorexia it meant it was official and I could do something about it. It is still a long process.”

Jo found a lot of support from Beat website where she was able to find out about eating disorders and use the live chat function to speak with other people in similar situations. She said: “It made me realise that I wasn’t alone and there were other people who felt the same.”

Jo is an ambassador for Beat who shares her story and experience to help others. She said: “It is about breaking the silence about eating disorders and being open about it.”

Susan Ringwood, the chief executive of Beat said: “What the ambassadors do is very brave to speak out about it but it is to change hearts and minds and hopefully people understand that it is not a trivial preoccupation.

“It is a powerful thing for individuals, parents, loved ones to realise that it is possible to recover and also for medical professionals who often only see people when they have an eating disorder and forget that they recover.”

Eating Disorders Awareness Week runs from February 20 to 26 and from Monday February 27 there will be an exhibition called Re-capture in the Scottish Parliament which features images taken by young people about the feeling of recovery from an eating disorder.

IN DETAIL

• For more information on eating disorder awareness visit the STV Health Centre, brought to you by NHS inform.

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