Medical Students with Eating Disorders?

Are there any ED sufferers out there who are in medical school? I really really really want to do medicine (and am applying to Oxford, eek) but I have suffered with bulimia (or, as one psychiatrist put it, anorexia nervosa binge-purge sub-type) for the past year or two. The eating disorder behaviour began when I was 12, it's just gotten a LOT worse in the past 2 or so years.

I'm on my way to getting treatment I hope. It's taken me roughly a year to even come close to this, after finally persuading my GP to refer me to mental health centres. Hopefully my referral to an eating disorder specialist team will come through in a week or so (this is like, my 5th referral or something), and I will receive CBT.

I know recovery will not be easy. I am still haunted by compulsions to lose more weight; I binge and purge 2-3 days a week and up to 4 times a day. The ED is getting ridiculously out of control. I just need symptom management at the very least.

Anyway enough of my whining; if there are any medical students who have recovered from their eating disorder either before or during medschool, please post here. I really need some hope; I'm getting depressed thinking I won't be able to cope with medicine because of my ED and I really don't want this to ruin my whole future.

Reply 1

Anonymous #2

Hi,

I'll be going to medical school in September and I suffer from eating disorders (diagnosed with anorexia nervosa, but have been struggling much more with bulimia the past year). From what I've heard, plenty of medical students have EDs - high-achieving, perfectionistic people are often susceptible to developing EDs, and are often the type of people attracted to a demanding profession such as medicine.

Then again, having an ED will make med school much harder, and I'm sure they have succeeded in wrecking many peoples medical careers. My advice would always be to put your health first, and try your best to recover before medical school. Taking a gap year to try an get back your health is unlikely to hurt your application if you get some good experience during it. From what I've heard different unis have very different mental health support facilities, some very good, some pretty poor, but some degree of support for EDs will also be available at uni. Don't let anybody tell you to give up on medicine because you have an ED - it's easy to think of doctors as people who are perfect students with perfect mental and physical health who never get stressed, but it's just not true. So apply if you want to, and definitely don't let your feelings about your eating disorder hold you back.

Currently, I'm hoping medical school will be a new start for me. I'm trying my hardest to stop purging to stop obsessively calorie counting, because I can't stand the idea of still being like this at uni. Truthfully, I'm terrified going to uni will make my ED spiral out of control, but I guess we'll see come September. I find a lot of things at home trigger my ED whenever I try to recover, so maybe uni will be the thing I need to put me on the right track. That's how I'm trying to think of it anyway.

Hope this helps a bit. I'm not sure you'll get too many responses, so maybe look at the ED support thread in this forum, people seem nice over there.

Reply 2

Revd. Mike

Your health must come first. Don't rush into your medical application, take some time to do some volunteering/work experience/work and get yourself better first.

Reply 3

Anonymous #1

Original post by Anonymous

Currently, I'm hoping medical school will be a new start for me. I'm trying my hardest to stop purging to stop obsessively calorie counting, because I can't stand the idea of still being like this at uni. Truthfully, I'm terrified going to uni will make my ED spiral out of control, but I guess we'll see come September. I find a lot of things at home trigger my ED whenever I try to recover, so maybe uni will be the thing I need to put me on the right track. That's how I'm trying to think of it anyway.

This is exactly how I feel. It's weird, it's like you just took the words straight from my mouth. I am equally terrified and excited because it could be a great new start, and at the same time it could all go horribly wrong.

Thank you for your reply - I'm glad to know there's others in the same boat.

Your health must come first. Don't rush into your medical application, take some time to do some volunteering/work experience/work and get yourself better first.

Medical Students with Eating Disorders?

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