Stories of Eating Disorder Recovery: Cara Lisette
Eat Breathe Thrive: Stories of Eating Disorder Recovery is designed to give people with lived experience of eating disorders a space to share their personal journeys of recovery from eating disorders and other mental health challenges.
In this interview, we speak with Cara Lisette, a mental health nurse, blogger, and Etsy shop owner about her experience of eating disorder recovery.
TELL US A LITTLE BIT ABOUT YOURSELF.
I’m Cara, and I’m a thirty-year-old mental health nurse with a mental health blog on the side. I have a diagnosis of anorexia and of bipolar disorder and I talk about my experiences with them on my blog, twitter and instagram (@caralisette). I have rainbow hair, A LOT of tattoos and am a proud cat lady. You can usually find me in my pyjamas with a glass of Prosecco watching reruns of RuPaul’s Drag Race.
WHEN AND HOW DID YOU FIRST REALIZE YOU HAD AN EATING DISORDER?
I was about thirteen years old when I was first diagnosed with an eating disorder. I’m not sure exactly when I realised it was a problem, but I do vividly remember when my mum first realised it was. I was seeing mental health services at the time but after struggling in the community for a while, I ended up being admitted to a psychiatric hospital for six months.
I have spent the past seventeen years swinging between relapse and recovery. I have had two periods of outpatient treatment with the adult eating disorders service, and after a severe relapse last year, I spent almost seven months in a day patient programme. I’m now back in outpatient services having weekly therapy.
WHAT DID YOU FIND MOST HELPFUL IN YOUR RECOVERY?
There are lots of things that have contributed to my recovery journey, and I have accumulated more tools each time I have relapsed. Talking to people has been a huge help this time around and I’ve got some amazing supportive people around me. I find writing and being creative really beneficial. But most of all, what has been most helpful is the professional support from my local eating disorder service.
WHAT WERE YOU BIGGEST CHALLENGES IN RECOVERY? HOW DID YOU GET THROUGH THEM?
There have been so many! Weight gain and eating more are obviously hugely challenging, and all the physical and mental discomfort that comes along with that. Having a shift from ‘anorexic’ to ‘in recovery’ is also really hard, as is trying to let go of some of that control.
WHAT OR WHO WAS YOUR BIGGEST MOTIVATION TO RECOVER FROM AN EATING DISORDER?
My friends, family and partner are my biggest motivators, as well as my future self. I want to be able to travel and socialise and progress in my career, and none of these things are compatible with anorexia.
HOW IS YOUR LIFE DIFFERENT NOW TO WHEN YOU WERE IN THE MIDST OF YOUR STRUGGLES?
It’s completely different. I couldn’t work, socialise, sleep, laugh. All I thought about was food and my life was ruled by anorexic behaviours. I was utterly miserable and a ball of anxiety. I am still very anxious and still have bad days, but I am so much happier than I was and physically I feel like a different person. I have the energy to do fun things and the concentration to follow conversations. I can enjoy life again now.
“Take the earliest chance you have at recovery and don’t look back.”
WHAT IS ONE KEY THING THAT FAMILY AND FRIENDS SHOULD KNOW ABOUT SUPPORTING A LOVED ONE WITH AN EATING DISORDER?
That gaining weight doesn’t mean they have recovered. It is still a daily battle that continues long after physical health is restored.
WHAT RESOURCES DO YOU RECOMMEND FOR ANYONE WHO IS STRUGGLING WITH AN EATING DISORDER?
The Beat website is amazing; they have online and in-person support groups that I can’t recommend enough. Megsy Recovery on YouTube and Instagram is amazing, and Tabitha Farrar’s book Rehabilitate Rewire Recover is the best book about anorexia recovery that I’ve ever read.
WHAT ENCOURAGEMENT DO YOU HAVE FOR SOMEONE WHO IS ACTIVELY STRUGGLING WITH AN EATING DISORDER?
That it can and does get better, even when it feels impossible. My life has opened up in ways I never thought possible since I have started recovery
“It can and does get better, even when it feels impossible… A life in recovery, as hard as it is, is so much better than a life trapped in anorexia.”
WHAT DOES THE TERM "RECOVERY" MEAN TO YOU?
It means taking back control from anorexia. I don’t think I will ever reach a point of full recovery, and I think it’s something I will have to work on for the rest of my life. But a life in recovery, as hard as it is, is so much better than a life trapped in anorexia.
WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE OTHERS TO KNOW ABOUT RECOVERY?
It does get easier. New challenges present themselves along the way, but good days increase and bad days become fewer.
WHAT IS ONE THING YOU WISH EVERYONE KNEW ABOUT EATING DISORDERS?
Eating disorders aren’t about vanity. I was never losing weight because I thought it would make me attractive. Also that very few people with an eating disorder are actually underweight, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t struggling or don’t deserve help.
“Very few people with an eating disorder are actually underweight, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t struggling or don’t deserve help.”
Are you struggling with an eating disorder?
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About Cara Lisette
Cara Lisette runs the mental health blog www.caras-corner.com where she documents her struggles with anorexia and bipolar disorder. You can also find her sharing her recovery on her Twitter and Instagram accounts (@caralisette). Cara is passionate about sharing her journey, because she knows she benefits from other people sharing theirs. You can expect to see the highs and the challenges as you follow her progress — Cara doesn't sugar coat recovery and she wants people to know that it’s not a straight line. ”But that doesn’t mean that I won’t get there in the end, and you can too,” she explains.
