muse-ings
MUSE MAGAZINE
My Mother Gave Me An Eating Disorder BY: DANIELLA ATKINSON PHOTOS: SARAH REESE CONTENT WARNING: THIS ARTICLE DISCUSSES EATING DISORDERS, AND MAY NOT BE SUITABLE FOR ALL READERS.
It wasn’t until I moved out of my family home and into my
independent life as a student that I realized I had grown up in a food toxic household. At home, I was taught a lifestyle that, now looking back, can be seen as disordered, obsessive, and restrictive. My family loves food, but when and how we indulge in it has strict rules and regulations I wish I wasn’t taught. For as long as I can remember, I have lived with the idea that eating breakfast, lunch, and dinner is an overindulgent way of living. Although considered healthy and necessary for a sustainable lifestyle, the thought of three-square meals a day in my household is considered “so North American.” Can I blame this disordered way of thinking on growing up in a European household? Or did my mother’s own issues with food lead me to adopt the eating disorder that I now struggle with? My mother weighed less than me when I was just 15-years-old, and I was constantly reminded of that by my family, which led to mental health issues and resentment towards them. I never knew that the food behaviours I was being taught from my mum, and hearing the things she used to say to me, would lead to the daily battle and eating disorder that I now live with.
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JAN 2020 - APRIL 2020
