[Anonymous]

I'm starting medical school at cardiff in september. i have an eating disorder and am scared it's going to affect me majorly when i move out from home. i want to get better, but i just can't. i can't face the fact that i need to put on weight and for me recovery is not worth being fat for. but it's taking over my life and it's just getting worse and worse. has anyone experienced going to med school with an eating disorder? and do you have any advice? or any advice on generally beating this disorder? i can see myself back in hospital in the next few weeks if i don't do something soon. thanks

[acecoffee]

hello. i m not a med student or diagnose with eating disorder althought i m currently being refer to ED unit for assessment .

firstly i would like to say well done on your offer on medical school .it is really hard to do so even for normal pupil . it is a good thing that you want to get better and i understand the fustration of unable to . medical school could be strict on dr health (both mental and physical ) sometime but they normally would provide great support . my cousin have depression and severe issue with self harm when she do her medical degree.although she was under a lot of stress by that time , she manage to make it and now is a plastic surgeon .

like any other study , i believe it is important to seek for help when you required or perpare incase you required , a good way of this is to apply for DSA . some people say that DSA is only /tends to be for people with physical illnes , however , DSA and your university could provide more help then you imagine , for example , note taker and mentor incase you were back in hospital (section or voluntary)

when you are depressed or experience negative symptom ,see a GP and a psych asap .you should also attend class even when you dont want to unless you really are unabled to do so .try sorting out your gp and arrange for CMHT even before you arrive , require your current gp to do so . because it does take a while to get everything sorted when you move into new area .discuss this further with your gp or psych

i believe there's no point of me giving you any advice as i am sure, same as me , you prob heard of them ages before and it is easy to listen to them but it is hard to actually apply them .if you really do want advice ,the simplest one would be have balance diet .keep active but do it for your health , not to burn calorie . dont over stress yourself about the course as the main thing is your health

good luck in your course and hope you can enjoy the new area and met some new friends as well as having a great time in uni while absorbing new knowledge about the human body .

[beth.19]

I'm hopefully starting foundation medicine in September too.

I struggled with depression, self harm and suicide for 6 years. I took a gap year after sixth form with the sole purpose of getting myself stronger before starting university. I cancelled my uni application so I'd have nothing to worry about and I decided to go travelling. It was the best decision I ever made. I know for a fact that I wouldn't have been accepted to do medicine in the state I was then, so I am honestly very proud of you for not only getting into medical school, but fighting an eating disorder too. You must be very strong.
You mentioned you might have to go into hospital again, so you've clearly been hospitalised before. Are you getting any help? If you're not, then you should be. You are intelligent, caring, no doubt beautiful, and you owe it to yourself to get better. Hopefully I'll see you at Cardiff, healthy and happy eh? Take care.

[Anonymous]

(Original post by beth.19)
I'm hopefully starting foundation medicine in September too.

I struggled with depression, self harm and suicide for 6 years. I took a gap year after sixth form with the sole purpose of getting myself stronger before starting university. I cancelled my uni application so I'd have nothing to worry about and I decided to go travelling. It was the best decision I ever made. I know for a fact that I wouldn't have been accepted to do medicine in the state I was then, so I am honestly very proud of you for not only getting into medical school, but fighting an eating disorder too. You must be very strong.
You mentioned you might have to go into hospital again, so you've clearly been hospitalised before. Are you getting any help? If you're not, then you should be. You are intelligent, caring, no doubt beautiful, and you owe it to yourself to get better. Hopefully I'll see you at Cardiff, healthy and happy eh? Take care.

i took a gap year too as i didn't get in first time round (nothing to do with my health, just wasn't good enough). i guess i'm in a worse place than i was this time last year as i had to watch all my friends go away and grow up and i was stuck here at home. i'm hoping abit of freedom at uni will do me some good. You're going to cardiff too? i can't wait! just wondering how i will cope.

[beth.19]

(Original post by Anonymous)
i took a gap year too as i didn't get in first time round (nothing to do with my health, just wasn't good enough). i guess i'm in a worse place than i was this time last year as i had to watch all my friends go away and grow up and i was stuck here at home. i'm hoping abit of freedom at uni will do me some good. You're going to cardiff too? i can't wait! just wondering how i will cope.

So work on getting better over the summer. Do any of your friends know about this, can you talk to them? You can do it you know, you can beat it. Hopefully, i have my grades but was planning on retaking then didn't so i'm a point (i did ib) under my offer, waiting to hear back on a level results day. Guarantee you're stronger than you think you are, and there are support systems in place to give you help if you need it.