Eating Disorder Recovery in Malaysia- In Honor of NEDAwareness Week

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IslamandEatingWe are with NEDA. Join us in Our War Against Eating Disorders. Eating Disorders are lethal and should never be taken lightly.

 

ED is a poison, killing people slowly from the inside. Torturing people. Its hideous and terrible and no one should have it. But unfortunately, it has already spread across the world. Yes, it changes people horrifically. That girl who once was smiling from ear to ear is changed to someone who won’t even say a word. Always sad, hating everyone. Its awful and miserable. I deeply hope those who are suffering from this will be able see the truth. I pray to Allah, InshaaAllah, One day we will all beat this. 16 Year Old Female In Recovery

Dear Readers,

One of the most rewarding things is to wake up to a message someone is in recovery and is finally facing their ED fears. Each time I receive such messages, I am newly inspired and deeply moved amazed by the strength within us all to defeat the demon of ED.

In honor of upcoming NEDAwareness Week, I share a recovery story of a sufferer from Malaysia. She developed ED when she was 14, and she’s been in battle with the demon of ED since then.

‘I had No Idea I had an Eating Disorder. I simply brushed off Everyone’s Concern’

NEDAwareness Week 2015

Her story brings to mind a story of Ex-Miss Malaysia, beauty queen turned-singer Wincci Soo who went on a starvation  diet at the age of 14 and developed Eating Disorder. According to Soo, pressure comes from Taiwan, where girls are very thin and this adds pressure on other girls to go down the unhealthy path to lose weight. In recovery she had to stop the purging behavior, deal with body changes and combine balanced meals with balanced exercise.

Eating Disorders are a very complex mental illness. Food is used as a weapon to feel in control of feelings, emotions that may seem overwhelming.  Recovery is about resolving our issues, healing the pain, loving our-self,  forgiving ourselves and those we love- so that we can get on with our lives positively free from the negative baggage of the ED world.

 

Best Message of 2015

‘I’m back in School, I’m feeling very fine. I’ve just joined the school Softball team. My legs are hurting from training but it was fun! Right now in Malaysia, the weather is really nice! And the Sky was unbelievably clear. I love it.’

Beautiful Malaysia

ED Recovery In Malaysia

This Young Person  suffered from Anorexia Nervosa. She was so debilitated by her illness that her whole life suffered, getting up in the morning became a struggle. She experienced black void, and feared she was on a brink of a complete break down. At the age of 15, she was severely under nourished and it came to the point where she needed hospitalization.  But then a break through came and she embarked on a journey of recovery.  She spent her summer holidays devoted to her recovery journey and now she’s back in school with a restored weight.  Before she went back to school she realized she would have to face blackness and body image issues and fall through and she did. She accepted Teenage years is not a time for drastic dieting but a time to nourish your body and love your body.

Lesson One Can learn From Young Warrior

ED recovery is a work up to you. You just have to take responsibility for your own reality and state of being. Young people are a good example of openness and willingness to change.  They’ll put up few barriers and resistance and you’ll be amazed at how easily transformation comes to them.

 

 

 

Beautiful Malaysia 3

Recovery in Malaysia

Recovery in Malaysia

Last year After Ramadan, On a road to recovery. After Family Meal we Stopped here.

I was truly moved by her courage and how much she let go of. She fought her Eating Disorder all by her self. She doesn’t have her ego and identity tied up in having to be consistent with her old limiting patterns and habits. In past, every time she attempted recovery she would avoid and go back into cycle of ED. We all do this, we feel we are ready to break away from the demon of ED, but then something inside stops us, we get stuck and we repeat our ED behaviors and habits over and over again. Question is what do we fear here? We have a fear of unknown and we will avoid it at any cost, even if it means never becoming free from our Eating Disorder.  We have set obstacles in the way of a good health, our thoughtless food rules, unhealthy environment has caused a soul body mind conflict. Good health can only be achieved when we take full responsibility for our body mind-spirit.

“It took me a while before I learned the fact that ultimately changed my entire journey: Recovery is not a state of mind, but a lifelong process. I don’t have to be perfect and I don’t have to rush through it, but no matter what, I must always move forward.” – Candace

What this Young Warrior Taught Me:

How easy it can be to let go and forgive the pain of the past.

When an individual enters recovery, the whole Family comes together and heals.

Ego is 90% of your ED beliefs.

ED recovery begins, when we become aware of the world around us and live in harmony with it and this world around us is made of people of all shapes and sizes.

 

Asking for Help

“There is no disease that Allah has created, except that He also has created its remedy.”
Bukhari 7.582

It’s not the easiest thing to do when you’re suffering from ED because you feel like you do not want to  interact with others. But it really helps to turn your focus on other people and away from yourself. Early diagnosis and treatment can help you to defeat the demon of ED.  In order to get the most out of treatment, it’s important to educate yourself about the illness, communicate with your doctors and therapists, have a strong support system, make healthy lifestyle choices, and stick to your treatment plan.

 

As Ayn Cates author of Consider this… Recovering Harmony and Balance Naturally said, The way to begin is with positive thinking. Your thought patterns create your reality. Discipline your thought patterns through meditation, auto-suggestion and balanced nutrition and it is likely that you will discover a new happier and healthier self .

 

“Don’t think about how long it will take to heal or recover. Just keep putting one foot in front of the other. Recovery is not about figuring anything out; it’s about having the will to take another step toward love.” – Allegra (Recovered after 12 years of anorexia and bulimia.)

It’ amazing how as you move forward on a road of recovery, your inner wisdom guides you to discover and resolve underlying emotional issues.  You undergo a challenging but wondrous journey to uncover any blockages or rigid places that might exist and once you do that you set yourself free.

For this Young Person, I’ve nothing but best wishes for her bright sunny future. I am so happy how she gained weight, No 1 Fundamental Rule of Recovery, went back to School and though Demon did try to convince her she will not be welcome back, she was welcomed back with open arms. At school, she skipped down the hall, smiling, running out to the school field, joyfully playing soft ball, breathing warm scented air of KL, embracing life without looking back for even one moment to linger or wallow in ED thoughts.

She’s thrilled to be taking one of many steps towards freedom and to be eating again and I know InshAllah (God Willingly), She’ll defeat this demon Forever.

 

Don’t wait until everything is just right. It will never be perfect. There will always be challenges, obstacles and less than perfect conditions. So what. Get started now. With each step you take, you will grow stronger and stronger, more and more skilled, more and more self-confident and more and more successful.
Mark Victor Hansen

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About Author

Islam and Eating Disorders founded in 2012 – run by Maha Khan, the blog creates awareness of Eating Disorders in the Muslim world, offers information and support for sufferers and their loved ones.

8 Comments

  1. It is so great to see victims of these terrible disorders recovering and going on to live healthy & happy lives! It just goes to show that anybody can turn their life around. It’s devastating that there are people who feel so bad about themselves that they starve or purge, but if given the proper care they can get back on track. Great post.

  2. Very nice post you have here. We need to bring awareness to this problem even though it happens in the shadows many times. Thanks!

  3. I’ve been to Malaysia, with such great food it’s easy to understand how eating disorders occur and it’s great that action is being taken on this for a healthier world.

  4. Eating disorders are a big deal these days and if I can provide any help for anyone, I would be glad to help. A lot of people don’t like the way they look because people see what the media has done and they see that as the norm. There should be no norm for the way to look and feel. We all should be free to look and feel how we want without having to hear that we aren’t the proper weight or the right look.

    We need not worry about what the world wants, we need to focus on what we want in life.

  5. i want to do a PSA about bulimia in Malaysia for my final year project. can anyone suggest me where can i shoot for this video and where can i get people who are willing to collaborate with me to produce this public service announcement? tq

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