Braiden's Story of Bulimia

25th September, 2019    |    By  The Butterfly Foundation    |     1.5k

Braiden shares his experience of living with bulimia and his journey to health. Butterfly’s National Helpline Call 1800 ED HOPE (1800 33 4673)


Also check the related topics:  

Eating Disorders Depression Anxiety What is it like getting help?

Video provided by The Butterfly Foundation

WEBSITE   
SHARE

Video Transcription

Braiden’s Story of Bulimia

I guess the point where I realized that I needed to get help was when I was in quite a deep depression and was suicidal. I did attempt suicide, and it was at this point where now my family is extremely involved in what’s going on, and I kind of couldn’t just live out that lie anymore. You know, I had to tell them what I’d been going through, and once I did, Mum and Dad, you know, were very quick to act on it, and kind of put me, I guess, straight into the system.

Yeah, my treatment process started out treating my depression, my anxiety, and I went through that. At the end of that, once I’d mentioned that I was still struggling with my bulimia and stuff and that this hadn’t been treated yet, she then referred me to an eating disorder specialist, and yeah, I got transferred there. They pretty much sorted out everything for me.

If you speak up, that’s gonna encourage one more person to speak up, and it’s a ripple effect. We need to kind of get rid of this, I guess, perspective that eating disorders are really only associated with females, and it does affect males of all ages and all backgrounds. It’s like any other illness; it can affect anyone. So I think, yeah, just definitely speaking up. Even though it can be extremely hard, the benefits of doing it always outweigh the negatives.

I think the first time in my life, I can see a future for myself. Yeah, there are definitely early parts of recovery where you can’t see a future. It’s even hard to see what you’re going to do next week, let alone six months, a year, or five years down the track.

So I think for me, just having that insight into what I want to do. You know, I’ve gone back to school now, and I’m actually studying mental health myself. So, you know, if you had told me that 12 months ago, I would have laughed and said, “That’s just not gonna happen.” And, you know, I’ve got a stable job now, a stable casual job, so it’s just the little things like that, where other people, you know, don’t think much about, but, you know, for someone who’s recovering or recovered, they’re big things.

And you can definitely instill a lot of confidence in someone just by doing those things.

Video by The Butterfly Foundation