Eating disorders, Beatrice Mauri: “When you hear that voice that wants to take away your freedom”

“A little voice that enters your thoughts and slowly takes possession of your freedom.” That is how Beatrice Mauri24 years old and a Master in Digital Specialist, describes i Eating Disorders. A disease that Beatrice began to fight with when she was about 17 and which today, thanks to the help of doctors and her family, she has managed to overcome. But in Italy, due to the pandemic and the lockdown that have compromised the mental and physical health of adolescents, requests for help from families and complaining about the lack of places in specialized structures are increasingly on the rise.

Beatrice, when did you start suffering from Eating Disorder (ED)?
«My DCA arrived at the age of about 17, between a test at school, the maturity and a twirling training. The scholastic and sporting commitment for a person like me, a bit strict with himself, has influenced my state of mental health ».

How did you deal with this situation?
“I want to start by saying to those who may be reading us and going through a difficult period that the treatment pathways for an eating disorder are different from each other and that there is no equal healing time for everyone, everyone has their own story and his time. The help of one of my twirling teachers, as well as a doctor and psychiatrist specializing in DCA, was fundamental for me, as well as from my family.

How did it help you?

“She immediately noticed that something was wrong with me and directed me towards the path of recovery. I entered a clinic specializing in DCA for several months and right here I met Giulia, my roommate and friend in Peso Positivo, the Instagram page that we founded together with a team of professionals to talk about Eating Disorders “.

What was your treatment path?

“In the hospital, thanks to the support of a team of experts, I embarked on the path of recovery. A path that for me was not limited to the months in hospital but was a path lived day after day with the support of doctors. I think it’s essential to say that you don’t necessarily have to be underweight to have an eating disorder. If a person feels that something inside him / her is changing, that thoughts become recurrent and intrusive, it is good to turn to the experts. The sooner an eating disorder is recognized, the easier the path to get better becomes ».

Why did you decide together with Giulia to open the Positive Weight page?
«We have decided to open the Positive Weight page because in Italy more and more people fall ill with an eating disorder. The age of onset is lowering, even reaching children of 7/8 years. This is why we believe it is essential to talk, to prevent and also to help the parents and friends of those who suffer from it. We are not alone in this project because all our contents are screened and approved by a scientific technical committee and this differentiates us from the other pages and makes us acquire reliability. We decided to talk about it on social media because Instagram is an important means of communication and we manage to reach as many people as possible “.

How would you tell about Eating Disorders to those who don’t know them?
«I would recount the DCA as a little voice, which slowly enters your thoughts and appropriates your freedom. Metaphorically it is like having a little voice in addition to your daily thoughts that judges you negatively, takes you away from your normality and prevents you from eating what you actually want. An annoying little voice but not impossible to hunt ».

What do you recommend to parents?
«If I had to give some advice to families who are currently in difficulty, I would say to educate themselves to patience and kindness both with themselves and with their child who is going through this difficult time. Avoid in any way to judge but rather listen as much as possible to the signals or words that their child is saying and communicate in the correct way. Finally, if the need is felt, it is useful to undertake the necessary family therapy to become aware of the fact that the family unit cannot be found guilty since eating disorders are multifactorial diseases ».

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